Every so often, a game comes along that immediately captures my attention, and I just know it’s going to steal my heart when it releases. DoDo Duckie is one of those games. I’ve been watching development progress for a while now, and on August 30, I finally got a chance to play the demo. I am absolutely obsessed.

DoDo Duckie is a perspective-shifting platformer in development by BornMonkie. You’re essentially getting two games in one, with the necessity to switch between 2D and 3D to navigate the platforms and work through the puzzles that get in your way. It’s heaps of fun, and packed with features. 

Quackers in every dimension

I think we’ve all established that I’m pretty terrible at platformers, particularly those of the 2D variety. I flounder and flap around like a fish out of water as soon as you ask me to navigate these two-dimensional areas, even though doing so seems like a straightforward thing to do. My brain just… Shuts down on me, leaving my fingers to flail around like they’re completely disconnected. 

DoDo Duckie has me doing that, too, don’t get me wrong, but then it has the added joy of being freely able to shift into a 3D perspective as well. And no, that’s not sarcastic, it really is a joy. I’m actually not bad at 3D platformers, probably thanks to my countless hours playing Croc as a child. Anyway, I digress…

That ability to switch between dimensions is as much fun as it is disorienting, especially when you realize that Duckie can’t jump in 3D. I’m not sure why, but as soon as he becomes a solid object, he apparently ceases to have functioning knees. Jumping is a pretty central part of any platformer, so you have to line yourself up in 3D, then switch to 2D to perform those critical jumps. 

Or, like me, you can forget to do that and then plummet to your death while futilely mashing the space bar like it’s suddenly going to give you the ability to fly. 

Stunning, regardless of perspective

DoDo Duckie has the most adorable art style, with cute little animals (including Duckie and a hat-selling Capybara), sweet little mushrooms, and sparkling gems to pick up and hoard. It doesn’t matter whether you’re viewing it in 2D or 3D, the setting of DoDo Duckie is incredibly pretty, and the fact that the developers have created both dimensions with equal attention needs to be commended.

Thanks to the Photo Mode, you can get your first glimpse of the 3D space long before you encounter the capybara who gives you the hat that seems to unlock the ability to switch between the two perspectives. Pressing P while in 2D mode will open up the camera, which comes with a hugely impressive number of options to tweak, letting you get some adorable or hilarious shots of Duckie on his travels through this platform world. 

Switching perspectives gives the game an entirely different feel, with details appearing in an instant that you’d otherwise completely miss out on. Those new details could be adorable or slightly terrifying, but either way you don’t want to miss out on seeing them.

It’s always worth switching between the two perspectives whenever you can, because you’re guaranteed to miss out on secrets that you can’t see in one or the other if you don’t. There are hidden little alcoves and hideaways across the demo level that would be missed in 2D mode, and those secret places hide hearts and gems. 

Don’t duck out on the demo

I play a lot of demos in order to write about them, and all of them are memorable in their own ways. DoDo Duckie stands out to me in a special way, perhaps because I’ve been watching it take shape for a while, or maybe because it is so completely enjoyable. Either way, it’s a demo that you don’t want to miss out on.

You won’t find the demo on Steam just yet, though. Instead, you’ll need to head to the Born Monkie Itch.io page and download the zip file from there. Just copy and paste the entire file to wherever you want it to live, and then open up the application file to jump in and live out your best life as this adorable little duck. 

There isn’t a release date for DoDo Duckie just yet, but it’s taking shape into a thoroughly enjoyable and utterly lovable platformer that has the potential to take flight into something amazing. Don’t miss out, go and play the demo and wishlist the game on Steam!