In space no-one can hear you quack!, which is a worrying situation when fowl play is afoot as it is in Abducktion, published by Evan and Josh’s Very Special Games Company.
Coloured duck set collection is the bill of play in this visually pleasing and tactile jaunt into space. Each player has a galaxy board you populate with 10 coloured ducks by beaming them down from the silicon UFO. Players then takes turns using their hand of three action cards to get their own ducks in a row or scatter their competitors, each aiming to align their ducks across the galaxy with the formations depicted on the public formation cards.
When a player's ducks match a card they are beamed back into the space ship, the ducks on the board swim down the galactic stream and new ducks are beamed down to fill the gaps. The game ends when the formation cards do, at which point the player with the highest score claims the title of top duck!
Abducktion is quick to set up and the rules are simple to understand, making it easy to play with children, although the spatial logic required to win may be beyond a younger audience. They will, however, enjoy the silicon UFO and the ducks, which are a really cute and tactile element.
Evan Katz and Josh Roberts have also designed an IntergalacDuck Research Expansion. This adds another layer of complexity and increases replayability with two extra boards, more ducks - including a new breed of glittery wild ducks - and a mini spaceship to help bend the galaxy to your needs.
With Abducktion you won’t need to scour the universe for a fast, beginner-friendly game to experiment with.
(Review by Claire Woodward)