Happy Broccoli Games on Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping – Interview Series

Happy Broccoli Games’ Duck Detective poster child Eugene McQuacklin is back for another trip around the pond in an all-new adventure on PC. Aptly titled Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping, the next chapter in the beloved mystery series will reportedly include all of the familiar bells, beaks, and whistles as featured in The Secret Salami, as well as some brand-new interactive features, to boot.

Curious to learn more about the studio’s upcoming release, I caught up with the team to discuss the IP and its latest episode.

The intuitive duck is back for another dip into the world of quirky and quacky detective fiction, and we’re all for it! Tell us, what inspired you to return to Duck Detective for a second standalone case?

Annika: The development of Duck Detective: The Secret Salami went so smoothly and was so much fun for the team, that we were absolutely up to make another one!

We also felt very inspired by Freddy joining you as your sidekick. We felt that this would provide a fresh enough angle to justify a sequel.

To cover all bases, would you mind explaining what Duck Detective is? How would you best describe it to those who’ve yet to play The Secret Salami or brush up on the details?

Annika: Duck Detective is inspired by Obra Dinn and Case of The Golden Idol, meaning that you have to carefully analyze your surroundings to be able to crack the case and feel like a true detective.

The difference is that it is presented as an adventure game and you play as a recently divorced, bread-addicted, duck.

In The Secret Salami, the Duck Detective is summoned to a call center to figure out who has been stealing people’s lunch! Soon enough you will find out that there is more to this case than petty theft…

Let’s go right ahead and quack open this new case, The Ghost of Glamping. Where are we likely to find our beloved Duck Detective in this latest episode? What’s the story here, if you don’t mind me asking?

Annika: In The Ghost of Glamping the Duck Detective is dragged along on a camping trip next to a haunted sanatorium. Ghostly things have been going on here and the detective feels compelled to dig deeper.

Tell us a bit more about this sidekick—a companion who, from the sounds of it, won’t be to our beloved Detective’s liking. How will they contribute to this story?

Annika: Freddy is the Duck Detective’s biggest fan and won’t leave his side, no matter what. He will follow you around, offering -in his opinion- helpful insights and inserting himself into your conversations.

Eugene McQuacklin is used to being a loner, so we’ll see if he can warm up to a happy-go-lucky Watson.

Besides being your Watson, Freddy will have important ties to another new character…

Would you mind elaborating on the gameplay mechanics and the sorts of challenges that will feature in Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping?

Annika: Players will see the same mechanics as in the first game: They will be able to inspect objects and people in great detail that might reveal new information (or just judgemental comments from the detective). They can interrogate suspects and will ultimately fill out blanks in their notebook to show that they’ve understood the case.

We’ve added some new quite fun environment interactions: There is a beach ball for the duck to kick around and of course lots more things to push over and cause mayhem.

We’ve improved our hint menu that we hope players will appreciate and of course we’re excited for people to experience Freddy following you around the scene.

So, what’s next for Duck Detective? Do you have any plans to further expand the series in the near future? If you’ve another case in mind, then we would love to hear more about it.

Annika: We’re very busy with The Ghost of Glamping still and are not thinking much further ahead still. We know for sure that after this one we will need a break and won’t just dive into a sequel straight ahead!

We want to make sure that we feel very inspired before we start working on a third game. Quality is very important to us! We want every case to be exciting and fulfilling.

That said, we’ve been throwing around the idea of making a Duck Detective board game, so we’ll see!

Is there a way for us to stay up to date with the Duck Detective series and Happy Broccoli Games’ future projects? Are there any social channels, newsletters, or roadmaps that you wouldn’t mind sharing with our readers?

Annika: 

Our Discord is the best way to stay updated and chat to other Duck Detective fans.

We also have a TikTok, if you want to see some sneak peeks of the new game.

Would you like to add any last-minute touches to this thread before we part ways with the pond, so to speak?

Annika: Thanks so much for having us, we’re extremely excited to show the new Duck Detective game to the world very soon!

Thanks for your time! We’re looking forward to seeing more of Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping over the coming months!

You can find more information on Happy Broccoli Games’ Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping on X. For additional pre-launch coverage and updates, be sure to add the game to your wishlist on Steam here.