Ducklings: A Game About Parenting! (2018)

Description from the publisher:

A heart wrenching co-op tabletop game where you must work with a partner to waddle your three fragile ducklings to safety. As a game where 2 parents from 2 families choose to either work together or against one another to keep their 3 duckling children safe, it simulates what life is like as a parent when the world is out to get you.

The parents are the players and they share a responsibility to supervise and keep their ducklings safe. Families start at opposite bodies of water, with one beginning at the lake and the other at the pond, both with the goal of getting to the other side. The path to your goal is created by the players and is constructed by a deck of randomized event cards prior to play.

On a turn, a parent rolls a die. They move up to the amount of spaces they rolled, and then choose an event card to land on. They will flip this card over and read its effects. Each event card has two options. The parent must choose one of the two options. They may consult their partner on what to do, but it is ultimately their choice. Some biomes can cause harm to the ducklings. When harm comes to the ducklings, an affliction token must be placed on the card. If three afflictions are placed on a duckling, both parents must flip the card so that the picture is face down. This card is now out of play, and the parents must read out loud the text on the back of the card.

If all of the ducklings in your family are flipped, you lose. The family with the most ducklings left alive at the end of the game wins.

• Each duckling has a unique talent that can only be used once in the game.
• The die you use corresponds to the amount of Ducklings you have. The more ducklings you have waddling behind you, the slower you are able move.
• A territorial duck fight will occur if two parents of different families land on the same space. When this happens, both families suffer an affliction.
• Once both parents from one family reach their new home, the Winter Season begins, where the remaining family suffers one affliction at the start of each of their parents turns.

• Gameplay is simple and easy to pick up, but both the moral and strategic decisions add depth to the simple gameplay.
• Unique, custom artwork for over 60 cards.
• Modular game board as the game is constructed out of a randomizable deck.
• Players can shape the path any way they want, even with creative branching paths.
• The modular game board allows for variable play lengths to fit time constraints as the players do not have to use the full deck.