How to play / Ducks Up!
How to play Ducks Up!
One rule runs the whole pond in Ducks Up!: whoever is higher when two ducks touch wins. Everything else, from eggs to turtles, grows out of that.
The higher duck wins
You steer a call duck in a sweatband above a pond. Rival ducks fly in from the sides, and each wave is over once every rival has been beaten. To beat one, come down on it from above. It tumbles into the water, shakes itself off and paddles away.
It works against you too. Touch a rival from below and you are the one who splashes down. At nearly the same height, you bounce apart.
There are no side walls: fly off the left edge and you return on the right.
Flapping, steering and gliding
A duck falls unless it keeps flapping. Each flap pushes you up a little, and holding the flap control flaps again about six times a second,.
- Phone or tablet: a left arrow and a right arrow steer on the left of the strip below the pond, and a big Flap button sits on the right.
- Keyboard: the left and right arrow keys steer; Space or the up arrow flaps. P or Escape pauses.
Perches such as logs and the dock are one-way: fly up through them, then land on top.
Eggs, ducklings and the hatching clock
Every beaten rival leaves an egg. Touch it before it hatches and it is saved. Leave it, and a grumpy duckling pops out and puffs up into a brand new rival.
An egg caught in mid-air is worth double an egg picked up from a perch. If a duckling does hatch, it stamps its feet for a moment; touch it then and you shoo it home for points before it turns into a rival. The pond's current carries floating eggs along.
Who you meet on the pond
- Greenhead, a mallard drake. One bonk.
- Big Red, a muscovy that likes to sit high. Get above him first.
- The Goose, tougher: it takes two bonks.
- Stilts, a heron that glides straight across the screen. Bonk it from above or keep clear.
- Snatch, a gull that steals eggs and drops them where they hatch. Bonk him to make him let go.
- Her Majesty, a crowned swan every fifth wave. It takes four bonks.
Snapper and the rising rain
Dropping into the water is safe for about a second. Bubbles warn you, then Snapper the snapping turtle bonks you back onto a perch, and that costs you a duck. A flap while in the water hops you out.
Waves that drag on past 45 seconds bring rain. The pond rises, drowning the dock and the low perches, so the safe places disappear.
Points, extra ducks and lives
Greenhead is worth 500, Big Red 750, The Goose 1,250. An egg off a perch is 250 and an egg caught in the air 500. Shooing a duckling gives 150. Winning a wave gives 1,000, or 2,000 if you did not lose a duck during it. Her Majesty is worth 5,250 for all four bonks.
The endless game starts you with four ducks, and you earn another every 20,000 points. After a game over, you may be offered a single "One more duck" to carry on from the same wave; it can be used once per run.
Today's pond and the streak
Press "Play today's pond" for a fixed set of five waves that is the same for everyone that day and finishes with Her Majesty. You have three ducks, and each one left at the end is worth 1,000 points. Only your first finish counts for the streak and the board; later goes are practice.
Each wave gets a mark afterwards: clean, splashed, or not won. Play on consecutive days to build a streak. Every seventh day in a row earns a streak freeze, up to two, and each freeze covers one missed day.
Two players on one phone
"Together" puts two ducks on the same side in a shared pond. "Head to head" lets them bonk each other as well, and a bonk on your friend scores 750. On a touch screen each player gets half of the strip, with three pads: flap left, up, or right. On a keyboard the second player steers with A and D and flaps with F or W.
Ducks Up! questions answered
Why did I lose a duck when I touched a rival?
You were lower than it. Touching from below, or sitting in the water too long, costs a duck. Get above the rival first.
Is there a tutorial?
Yes, a short lesson plays the first time, with a sleepy drake to drop on. Replay it from the help sheet.
What does the one more duck button do?
After a game over in the endless game it lets you continue once from the same wave with a single duck. Two-player games do not offer it.
More games like Ducks Up!
- How to play Splash Landing: another flying duck game, this one about a gentle landing.
- How to play Puffduck: protect the eggs, this time from a squirrel.
- How to play Duckling Crossing: a very different game about guiding a mother duck.