All of my 'Light Reviews' aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them. I feel that other reviews can be sought if detailed game mechanics is what you are after.

Summary

Game Type - Card Game
Play Time : 15-30 minutes
Number of Players: 3-6 (Best 4+)
Mechanics - Card Driven
Difficulty - Pick-up & Play
Components - Very Good

Sitting Ducks is a classic light filler game. The theme is Duck Hunting and the aim is to keep your ducks alive long enough, so that all other players find their ducks in the great pond in the sky!

Fine by me but it may get the animal activists a little upset. Meh, it's a card game.

Components

The game revolves around the 3-flip board (think Lost Cities) and the 2 card decks that drive the game. The board is functional although a little plain in terms of artwork. It depicts a side on view of a lake, so the waterline is visible, with fluffy white clouds in the sky and Bulrush Reeds in the background. The board also has 6 spaces in which to play cards and a 7th space for the Duck Draw Deck (DDD).

Note - Some images here on the Geek show a version that only uses cloud cards to depict each of the 6 spaces in the Gallery. This suggests to me that a smaller boxed version may exist with no board at all.



The cards themselves use a matte finish, which I think is a must for modern games. The artwork used on the cards takes a cartoonist approach and the humour comes through really well, as there are plenty of ducks with cheesy grins or looks of despair, depending on each card's effects. Actually I think the card artwork by Randy Martinez is really great. Given the game is card driven, the decision to make the cards shine is a sensible one.

The Set-up

Each player receives a duck in the colour of their choice, so all players know who is who. The remaining 5 ducks of each player’s colour are then shuffled together and the 5 empty lake cards are then added. This forms the Duck Draw Deck. From this deck 6 cards are drawn and placed in order on the game board.

Each Player then receives 3 Action Cards as their starting hand. It’s hunting time.

The Game Play

You really can’t play Sitting Ducks Gallery (I really dislike the addition of Gallery, surely Sitting Ducks would have been sufficient) without thinking of Guillotine. Whilst the goal may be different (staying alive rather than gathering points) the base mechanics are the same.

The player’s must take turns to play an Action Card from their hand. The cards can do all manner of things such as target ducks, shoot ducks and manipulate the line of ducks in one way or another. It is the manipulation of the line that is the most similar to Guillotine, but there are some subtle differences.

For example in order to shoot a duck, it must first be targeted by an aim card. As you can only play 1 card per turn it is common for 1 player to aim, which allows a subsequent player to shoot that duck. This can result in a lot of ‘take that’ action and revenge plays. It is quite common for the leader to be mass hunted but there are some defensive plays too.

There are numerous cards that allow the line of ducks to be manipulated. Moving targets to the left or right allows your feathered friends to breathe a sigh of relief and possibly put the heat on the enemy.

The line of ducks can also be moved and if a duck falls off the left side of the ‘Gallery’ they are returned to the bottom of the Duck Draw Deck, the line shuffles down and a new duck is drawn. Protecting ducks in this fashion is a ‘must’ if you wish to be in the action at the end of the game, and is something that can’t be done in Guillotine.

A player ends their turn by drawing an Action Card, thus always maintaining a hand of 3. No Action Cards can be played out of turn.

When a player has seen their last duck ‘fall limp’ they continue to play cards in order to manipulate the play. If they are lucky enough to draw a Resurrection Card they may even come back into the game.

The last duck species standing is declared the winner.

Anatomy of a Card Deck

In a card driven game such as this, a short analysis of the cards on offer can be useful and help readers of this review better understand the options available. Numbers in brackets denote how many of that card type are in the deck.

Aim (11) – Making up 21% of the Action Deck, playing an Aim allows you to place a target above the duck of your choice in the Gallery.

Shoot (13) – Making up 25% of the Action Deck Shoot cards allow any targeted duck to be shot. If targets are only positioned above an empty lake card then one of these targets must be removed.

Move Line Forward (6) – Moves the entire line 1 space to the left. The duck falling off the Gallery is returned to the bottom of the DDD and a new duck is drawn and placed in the far right slot. Not only can these cards save one of your brethren, it can also alter who is targeted by active aim tokens.

Bottoms Up (3) – These cards are placed over one of your ducks in the Gallery. They allow your duck to hide until the start of your next turn, meaning they cannot be shot (although they can be targeted).

Move Ahead (3) – Allows one of your ducks to change places with any card in front of it in the line. Great for escaping a targeted space or getting closer to the end of the line in the hope of dropping off the Gallery.

Hang Back (3) – Same as Move Ahead but in the opposite direction. Used mainly to avoid a target.

Bump Right (2) – Bumps a single target token one space to the right.

Bump Left (2) – Opposite of above.

Duck and Cover (2) – Allows one of your ducks to be placed underneath an adjacent duck in the line. A great card.

Resurrection (2) – Allows a player to return a dead duck to the Duck Draw Deck. Very powerful and often a game winner, although it does make you a target.



Two Birds (1) – In reference to ‘2 birds with 1 stone’ this card allows 2 adjacent targeted ducks to be shot in a single blow. Nasty.

Quick Shot (1) – Allows the elimination of a duck that is not targeted. Totally gutting if it happens to you.

Misfire (1) – Allows a duck to be shot if it is adjacent to another duck that is targeted. The duck in question and the target token are then removed. The artwork on this card featuring the bemused duck that has just escaped death is hilarious.

Disorderly Conduckt (1) – Love the spelling on this one. It allows the line or Gallery to be rearranged in any fashion. Targets must remain stationary though.

Duck Shuffle (1) – Returns all cards in the Gallery to the Duck Draw Deck for a reshuffle and 6 new cards are drawn. Great for escaping hairy situations.

Fast Forward (1) – Move one of your ducks to the head of the line. Good for getting a duck out of the ‘hot zone’.

Double Barrel (1) – Allows 2 aim tokens to be placed above adjacent ducks.

Give Peace a Chance (1) – Removes all targets from the Gallery.



The Final Word

Sitting Ducks had often looked at me from the shelf of my FLGS and I had always given it a second look but ultimately dismissed it as a children’s game.

Whilst that assessment may be true for many I am pleasantly surprised with how much I like the game. The comical approach serves it well, the mechanics are simple enough to make it an enjoyable filler and the fact that it doesn’t take itself too seriously is key.



As such I can see this getting a place in my collection in the near future and it will be a regular feature with my non-gaming friends and family.

My only 2 quibbles are the following. It really does play best with 4 or more players. Some of the specialist (1 off) cards are only truly effective when the Gallery has multiple aim tokens in play. I found that with 3 players, there was often a scarcity of aim tokens as they were removed (fired at) as quickly as they were added. Having more players would help cycle through the deck quicker and see those 11 aim cards get played with more frequency.

Playing with 4 or more also enhances the social aspect of the game, which is another strength of the game.

The other quibble is the choice of theme. I mean the game is called Sitting Ducks Gallery and yet it is set on a lake. I would have thought a Shooting Gallery at a Fair would have been more 'in-lin' with a sequence of ducks that can rotate, even if some of the cards may have needed a new name. Anyhoo just my 2 cents.

All in all though, Sitting Ducks Gallery is a light, fun game that is bound to elicit cheers, groans and the occasional shot gun sound effect from the playing group.