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How to play / Puddle Ferry

How to play Puddle Ferry

Think of a taxi rank where the taxi is a small white duck in a skipper's cap and every fare waves from a numbered dock. In Puddle Ferry you fly one screen at a time, collecting riders and setting them down at other docks, and a slow, careful landing pays better than a fast one.

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Picking up a rider and finding their dock

A rider waves from a dock that has an arrow over it. Land on that dock and they hop aboard. A speech bubble over the rider shows which numbered dock they want to be taken to. Fly there and land, and they hop off. A strip at the top of the screen names the job in hand and shows the tip draining away.

Riders come one at a time, with a short pause between. Deliver them all and the level is done.

Flapping, drifting and Steady wings

Hold Flap to rise. Let go and the duck drifts down. Two arrow buttons fly it sideways.

The menu has a setting called Steady wings. With it on, letting go of everything makes the duck sink gently and stop drifting sideways. Turn it off for full control. Another setting puts Flap under the left thumb.

  • Keyboard: Space or the up arrow flaps, the side arrows fly sideways, P or Escape pauses. A game pad also works.

Soft landings and the ring under the duck

A ring under the duck tells you how the landing would go. Solid green is gentle, dashed amber is firm, and a doubled red outline is too fast.

Three things cause a dunk: touching the water, bumping something at speed, and landing too fast. A slow bump only bounces you off. A bump from something that moves also knocks 25 points off the tip, even a gentle one.

After a dunk the duck shakes itself off, then flies again from the last dock it stood on. A rider aboard goes back to where they were picked up, and the tip does not reset.

What the fare, the tip and the bonuses are worth

  • Every rider delivered: 100 points.
  • The tip: a rider starts with 200 and it drains while they wait and ride, so quicker is more.
  • A feather-soft touchdown at the destination: up to 50.
  • A level with no dunks: 200 extra.

A delivery counts as a star when at least 100 of the tip is left and the touchdown was soft. Otherwise it is good. A rider you never delivered is a miss.

Feathers, the shift and its thirteen opening levels

Classic is called a shift. You start with five feathers, and each dunk costs one. Fly a level without a dunk and you win one back, up to seven. The first thirteen levels are hand-made and each teaches one idea: wind patches, a drifting log, icy docks that make you slide, a barn door that slides open and shut, moving pails and a swinging sack. After those, made-up levels keep getting trickier, with up to six riders.

When the feathers run out the shift is over, and you can choose one extra feather once per run.

Today's route and the streak

Today's route is one made-up level, the same for everyone that day, with five riders and five feathers. Weekend routes are a little harder than weekday ones. Your points add up, and higher is better. The first go counts; later goes are practice.

Flying the route on consecutive days builds a streak. Seven days in a row earns a streak freeze, up to two. Your very first flight is a practice level that counts for nothing.

Ways to lose tips and feathers

  • Dropping in from height. Add short flaps in the last stretch so the ring goes green before you touch.
  • Chasing a drifting log or pail. Wait for the gap; movers keep a fixed timetable.
  • Landing on the wrong dock. Check the number in the bubble.
  • Landing on the end of a dock. A touchdown counts only if the duck's middle is on the dock, with a small allowance past the edge.

Puddle Ferry questions answered

Why did I get a dunking when I only brushed a wall?

Brushes at low speed only bounce. A bump counts as a bonk when the duck is travelling faster than that, and a bonk costs a feather.

Do I need to land softly to deliver?

No, any safe landing on the right dock delivers the rider. A soft landing adds bonus points and can make the delivery a star.

Is anyone hurt when I crash?

No. The game's own menu says a bump only ends in a soggy, cross duck. The quacks, peeps and honks come from the studio's own birds.

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