The story of how I came to acquire my copy of Abducktion is a prime example of how sometimes a mistake can end up being a good thing. A while ago, I had arranged for fellow EBG reviewer E.V. to obtain a copy of the game from the publisher, but somehow, they inadvertently ended up sending her two copies. It was an unfortunate mishap, but trying to make the most of it, we decided that even though we lived a ways apart from each other, we would some day make an attempt to have her pass off the second copy to me so that I could run it through its paces and share my thoughts on the game. Which wasn’t easy, as both of us live in different countries.

Nevertheless, last summer, we finally found the way to make the arrangement, and now that I have finally had the chance to enjoy the game over the past few months, I am happy to report that I am in complete agreement with her review of Abducktion, which can be found here.

In summary, this multiplayer game revolves around aliens conducting experiments on ducks (hence the cute pun of a title for the game). While no ducks are actually harmed during the “experimentation” that is done on them during the game, the premise of the game cleverly makes use of returning the ducks home to earth and refilling your player board / array with new ducks to replace the old ones, while scuffling unused duck experiments further down the industrial line to make space for the new ones. And I apologize for not breaking down the game with an exhaustive summary of the game play, but, there are some great videos on the ‘net that can do this for me, but I can provide a general synopsis.

Each player has their player board, which constrains a top and bottom row which are connected together as one solid stream, just like a river that flows around a bend in nature. Ducks of many colors /types are placed on this stream, and the objective of the game is to use experiment cards that are dealt to players to rearrange ducks into a designated pattern to complete your alien experiments on them — more complex experiments have more complex patterns of ducks to arrange, and are consequently worth more points. When your experiment is done, collect your points, remove ducks used in the experiment from your board, move ducks downstream to fill gaps in your board, then replace any empty spaces with ducks drawn randomly from the game’s cute custom blue UFO. Players can obtain cards that allow them to strategically rearrange ducks to match up to the zany configurations that are often required to fulfill the conditions required to obtain points displayed on the public goals that are always visible. Once all of the public points to be had are obtained, the game is over. It’s just about as simple as that.

The IntergalacDuck Research Expansion adds a nice (but simple) mechanism that allows small third row / or column board for players to shift around their player boards to create more complex patterns for more complex point cards that come with the expansion, making new enjoyable strategies possible, as well as a glittery green duck that serves as a “wild” card in the game, able to fulfill virtually any color role required. Again, simple but effective for adding some variety.

In a nutshell, I will be treating both the base game and expansion as one for the purposes of this review, as they did come bundled together in the same box, but note that this may not be the case for all purchases , so bear this in mind. But still, Abducktion plays similarly enough with and without the expansion that the conclusions I can draw are mostly identical between playing with and without it.

The Good : 

This is a very good family game! It justifiably gets a perfect score for us in this department, and despite being made for ages of 12+ , our 6 year old is able to join in just fine (your results may vary , of course), and eagerly looks forward to every game. 

The components are all well made and even spectacular. The UFO stands out, as well as the card art, it stands out to compliment the zany theme, almost giving a Looney Tunes vibe where I could see Daffy Duck getting hysterical over getting beamed up by Marvin the Martian. The ducks themselves also stand out as being very high quality. Top notch all around for presentation. 

The game doesn’t take up a ton of shelf space, and is very portable. Not the most portable in my collection by a long shot, but also nowhere near what I would consider to be a “medium” sized game,  sitting somewhere comfortably between the two sizes.

Do I have any complaints? 

Nope. Zip, Zero and Nada.

I have read others concerned by a “luck” factor in this game, but I find this to be largely negligible. This largely revolves around the fact that sometimes players just need to be strategically in the right place at the right time to get the maximum setup conditions, and if someone else manages to score the setup you had been trying to score first, that can easily mess up your plans, sure. But this should not let the game’s simple, elegant, fun design be detracted from. Sometimes, life really is just a matter of people being in the right place at the right time, whether for a job posting, lottery ticket, meeting your future spouse, etc. Not getting what you want immediately or having 100% control of a situation at all times should not rob us of our capacity to enjoy life, and Abducktion is a perfect example of this for me. No, it does not offer a perfect option to control all aspects of the game, and in this case this is just fine. It is a perfect and very streamlined way to just enjoy the company of friends and family, and virtually everyone I have shown the game to and played it with has walked away impressed and wanting to buy the game for their own family. So clearly, I feel that Very Special Games Co. has indeed made something very special that can easily stand the test of time.