Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
2024 video game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is a 2024 adventure game developed and published by Happy Broccoli Games. It is a comedic detective story where players solve puzzles to progress through a mystery. A sequel titled Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping was announced in December 2024,[2] and released in May 2025.[3]
Snapbreak (mobile)
- Annika Maar
- Joni Levinkind
| Duck Detective: The Secret Salami | |
|---|---|
From left to right: Manfred Ernst, Sophie Wintheimer, Eugene McQuacklin, Freddy Frederson, Laura Angst | |
| Developer | Happy Broccoli Games |
| Publishers | Happy Broccoli Games (PC/console) Snapbreak (mobile) |
| Director | Annika Maar |
| Designers |
|
| Programmer | Joni Levinkind |
| Artists |
|
| Writer | Annika Maar |
| Composer | Svyatoslav Petrov |
| Engine | Unity[1] |
| Platforms | |
| Release | Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Linux, macOS, Windows
|
| Genre | Adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
Gameplay
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is an adventure game presented in an isometric perspective. Players control a duck detective, Eugene McQuacklin, in a city where all the residents are animals. It is fully voice acted, and there is a button that makes Eugene quack.[4]
![](#/media/File:Duck_Detective_"deducktion".png)
Players solve puzzles, called "deducktions", in the form of phrasal templates where the correct words must be inserted into Eugene's notebook.[5] Investigating the scene gives the clues and the words needed to fill the notebook.[6] After the sentence is fully filled, the approximate amount of incorrect words is revealed, unless "Story Mode" is activated, in which case the incorrect words are highlighted.[7]
Scene investigation takes the form of moving around the rooms, interrogating non-player characters, and inspecting objects with a magnifying glass.[6] Occasionally, players must solve miniature puzzles to progress, such as figuring out the password to a safe.[8] There is a hint button in case the player is stuck.[6]
Though the solution to the mystery is always the same, players can choose how to end the game. After completion, players can see what percentage of people made each choice.[9]
Plot
Characters
- Eugene McQuacklin (Sean Chiplock) – a down-on-his-luck duck detective
BearBus employees
- Sophie Wintheimer (Annika Maar) – a depressed giraffe
- Freddy Frederson (Brian David Gilbert) – a crocodile obsessed with detectives
- Laura Angst (Lizzie Freeman) – an overworked cat
- Margaret Whitlock (Nola Klop) – a motherly sheep
- Rufus Sederis (Shane Mullan) – a practical penguin
- Manfred Ernst (Dashawn Ricks) – a bear and a family man
- Boris Petrovic (Cyrus Nemati) – a naive bull
Plot summary
Eugene McQuacklin is a detective who is recently divorced, broke, and addicted to white bread. Laura Angst hires him to investigate a case at a branch of BearBus, whose buses are always late. Eugene has to figure out the identities of BearBus's employees: Sophie Wintheimer is the receptionist; Manfred Ernst is the branch manager; Freddy Frederson works in the operating office; Laura and Margaret Whitlock work in customer service; Rufus Sederis is the janitor; and Boris Petrovic is the bus driver.
After this, Laura explains to him that a co-worker, known only as "The Salami Bandit", stole her lunch. She strongly suspects Freddy of the crime, as his bag is full of salami. Eugene realizes that Freddy is being framed because he had taken the wrong bag. Meanwhile, Margaret hosts a surprise birthday party for Sophie. She opens her presents, and one of them is a letter with a hidden, threatening message, attached to salami. Suspicion immediately turns on Freddy. Eugene realizes that salami is being smuggled into the country using BearBus, and that this is the reason why the Salami Bandit is being taken so seriously.
Eugene gathers all of the BearBus employees, except for Sophie, who is missing. He explains to them that there is a criminal conspiracy at BearBus. No one takes him seriously, and they leave him. After this, a note at Sophie's desk is discovered, saying that she has quit BearBus. Eugene investigates her computer, and discovers that she was, in fact, kidnapped by the Salami Bandit, because she wanted to snitch on them. In addition, Eugene discovers a separate criminal conspiracy: Rufus has been blackmailing Manfred to keep him from talking about Rufus's illegal voucher selling, and Margaret is the one who provides the vouchers to Rufus.
Eugene begins to unravel the case. He realizes that Sophie is being held captive in one of BearBus's busses. He compares Manfred's and the Salami Bandit's handwriting, and realizes that they are the same. He deducts that Boris is an accomplice of Manfred's, as he is the only one capable of importing the salami. Sophie is also an accomplice, since she used to date Boris, and Manfred needed someone who could convince Boris to join the conspiracy.
Eugene frees Sophie from the bus, and everyone else joins them. Eugene begins explaining the case to them. Manfred's branch had its budget cut, and so he devised the salami conspiracy to make a better living for his family. For this, he convinced Sophie to trick Boris with a false story to join the conspiracy. Boris took large detours to get the illicit salami, which is why their buses were always late. When Eugene arrived at the scene, Sophie attempted to snitch to the police, but Manfred captured her before she could. The player is then given the choice to arrest one or more of Manfred, Sophie, or Boris.
In a post-credits scene, Eugene realizes he forgot to collect his payment from Laura, and is unable to pay for the bus ride back home. Freddy, waiting outside, offers Eugene a ride back to his office. Eugene, with much reluctance, agrees. During the drive, Freddy offers to be Eugene's sidekick. Eugene doesn't respond.
Development
Developer Happy Broccoli Games is based in Berlin, Germany.[10] In September 2020, they were funded by Coffee Stain Studios as part of its Levelling the Playing Field initiative, which funds studios with "teams that are 50% women, non-binary individuals, or individuals from a variety of backgrounds and cultures".[11] Their first game, Kraken Academy, was released in 2021.[12]
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami was announced in 2023 at Wholesome Snack, an indie game showcase.[13] It released for Linux, macOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch and Xbox consoles on May 23, 2024.[14] The game was officially translated into German by Marcel Weyers in September 2024, with other languages being offered as fan translations through the Steam Workshop.[15] It was ported to iOS and Android in collaboration with Snapbreak on April 9, 2025,[16] and to the PlayStation 5 on May 22, 2025.[17]
In a spot on the Summer 2024 edition of the Future Games Show, a developer said that Duck Detective was inspired by adventure and puzzle games like Return of the Obra Dinn (2018) and The Case of the Golden Idol (2022).[4]
Reception
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 79/100[18] |
| OpenCritic | 78% recommend[19] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 5.5/10[5] |
| Hardcore Gamer | 4.0/5[20] |
| Nintendo World Report | 8.5/10[21] |
| PCGamesN | 8/10[22] |
| TouchArcade | 4.5/5[23] |
According to Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, Duck Detective: The Secret Salami received an average score of 79/100, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[18] According to OpenCritic, 78% of critics recommended the game.[19]
Polygon praised its charm and humor, which they said made backtracking to find more clues fun. Given that it only takes a few hours to complete, they hoped Happy Broccoli would add more episodes.[6] Digitally Downloaded, in a 5 star review, enjoyed the parody of hardboiled detective fiction, which was a good hardboiled story itself.[9] PCGamesN called it "funny, entertaining, and satisfying" that is a good value despite its short length.[22] Hardcore Gamer recommended it to gamers who enjoy indie games and crime mysteries, who they felt would not be disappointed by the short length.[20] Nintendo World Report praised the writing and art, though they said they wanted more cases to solve.[21] Although Kotaku was occasionally frustrated by the puzzles, they praised it as a "game full of character".[24] Mystery Magazine praised the light-heartedness and humour, contrasting it against the usual serious tones of detective fiction, and said that it felt more like a workplace comedy than a criminal investigation.[25] The A.V. Club described it as a "loving homage to noir tropes that nails the balance between comedy and mystery".[26] In a more negative review, while Destructoid praised the art and its attention to detail, it criticized the "deducktion" mechanic for being too mechanical, and that the deductions required to be made were often unintuitive or irrelevant. The plot was also described as poor.[5]
Awards
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami was nominated for Best Audio Design and Best Mobile Game for the Deutscher Computerspielpreis 2025.[27] It won in the Best Mobile Game category.[28]