Abducktion: A Weirdly Strategic Duck Kidnapping Game
A 15-minute light strategy game for adults of ducks, a UFO, and Tetris-like logic!
8,170 games pre-ordered by backers on Kickstarter!
Abducktion Base Game + Full Expansion
6,186 backers
Abducktion Base Game
1,465 backers
& Free US Shipping! (Currently in production; ships May 2023)
& Free US Shipping! (Currently in production; ships May 2023)
Pre-ordering here means you'll get Abducktion at a discount and before it's available at retail or anywhere else!
Meet Abducktion
Hi! Meet our brand new game, Abducktion! Abducktion was the #1 most-backed Kickstarter board game campaign while it was live. You can still pre-order it!
Abducktion started very simply — we wanted a game for grownups (and smart kids) that took only 15-20 minutes to play, just two minutes to explain, but was still strategic enough to make winning still feel really, really good.
Here's the premise: Players are all interns on an a UFO, working for an intergalactic corporation that has one main function: abducting ducks. (For research purposes, duh). But, ducks need to be collected in specific formations, and you'll have to use spatial logic and cunning to rearrange your ducks before your opponents to win!
We've had so much fun creating this game, from playtesting to creating the ACTUAL 3D FLEXIBLE SPACESHIP that holds and dispenses all the ducks (did we mention we're excited about that?!)
If you're ready for a weirdly addictive game that's perfect for playing over the breakfast table or for kicking off a game night, we hope you pre-order this game — see you in outer space!
—Evan + Josh
What's in the box?
The base Abducktion game includes the following (for Expansion Game components, scroll down!)
80 adorable plastic ducks
3D flexible UFO
4 player boards
Action Cards deck
Formation Cards deck
Want to see the game unboxed in detail? Watch Josh review each component in depth, here.
We designed Abducktion to be super easy to learn, but surprisingly competitive if you want it to be. Abducktion is great for:
Game nights needing that "quick, first game of the party"
Couples wanting a fast-paced, 15-minute game that stays challenging and fresh
Family events where you have gamers of all different levels and ages
But, don't take our word for it:
Making a game about abducting ducks without a real spaceship would be kinda dumb. So, we teamed up with an awesome industrial designer, Sarah, to help us design this custom rubbery UFO that holds all the ducks during the game!
It's flexible, and designed so you can easily reach in to grab a single duck, or put a whole handful away quickly (or should we say quackly?) at the end of the game.
Welcome to your internship! In Abducktion, your job is to arrange your ducks into specific formations before your opponent interns, but it's harder than it looks — good luck!
Stock the ponds
All players randomly take ducks from the UFO, and put one on each of the 10 ponds on their board.
Display formation cards
Deal three Formation Cards, face up in the middle so everyone can see. You’re all competing to arrange your ducks into these same color formations before your opponents!
(You'll only play with some of the formation cards each game, so it's always a unique experience.)
Take actions
Everyone draws a hand of three action cards. On your turn, use up to three of your action cards to either rearrange your ducks into one of the Formation Card shapes, or mess with an opponent’s board!
Get points!
When the ducks on your board match a Formation Card, you get to claim that card and get the points on it! Abduct that group of ducks off your board back into the UFO.
Replace the claimed Formation Card(s) using the Formation Card deck, so there are always three in play.
May the best intern win
Move the remaining ducks on your board downstream, and randomly fill in any empty ponds on your board with new ducks. Put out a new Formation Card. Now it’s your opponent’s turn — whoever has the most points once all Formation Cards are claimed wins!
We put a ton of thought into making the base Abducktion game incredibly accessible to everyone, with just enough competition to keep players coming back for more. But, the base game just scratches the surface of masterful duck-rearranging — that's where the Abducktion Expansion Game really makes things interesting.
For people who have gotten their flippers wet with the base game, the Expansion makes the game a whole new level of competitive and challenging. It expands the game to up to six players, and did we mention it comes with green GLITTER ducks??
The Expansion Game introduces the Research Pod, an adorable mini spaceship that holds two ducks.
Flip it around and dock it to your board in any orientation collect ducks in wild new formations, like this:
The expansion also comes with GLITTER DUCKS, a brand new breed of duck that behaves differently. Use them as wilds to collect tougher formations, but save them up in the endgame because they're worth points!
The Abducktion Expansion Game upgrades:
Expands game up to 6 players (includes 2 extra boards, and 40 extra ducks!)
Includes 6 research pods
GLITTER DUCKS!
Includes 20 new challenging Formation Cards (worth higher points!)
Games last 25-30 minutes instead of 15-20
Production + Shipping Updates
We know ordering a game while it's still in production is a bit odd, and we're committed to keeping everyone up to date with updates and timelines. We post routine production updates on our Kickstarter page, and you can view them at any time here.
What makes Abducktion so addicting to play again and again? Sure, pulling adorable ducks out of a rubbery UFO is part of it, but we think it's the "easy to learn, hard to master" aspect that keeps us coming back.
On any given turn, you likely have multiple ways to match your ducks to a Formation Card and get points. But, as you get better, you'll see more creative and efficient ways to get to these formations, while also slowing down your opponents — sometimes it's worth sacrificing your ability to get points in order to stop an opponent that's about to have a big turn!
Every time ducks are removed from a board (which happens often, sometimes multiple times per turn), all remaining ducks slide downstream. You can use this to your advantage, but be careful — predicting how ducks will slide several moves in advance can be hard.
Despite taking place in void of space, nothing is created in vacuum, and Abducktion drew inspiration from a variety of classic games, including Mancala and Bejeweled.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is the game appropriate for everyone?
The content is, but the activity might not be — Abducktion can challenging! There’s probably not an upper limit on age (we designed it to be fun for adults even if tiny ears and eyes are around) but anyone under 10-12 might struggle with the logic puzzle aspect of the game.
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What skills make you good at Abducktion?
We think anyone can be good at Abducktion, but you’ll be a pro if you’re good at spatial reasoning and moving shapes around in your head. Tetris and Candy Crush players, you’ve got a head start!
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How many players is the game designed for?
The base game is for 1-4 players (yep, it comes with solo play rules so you can play as a logic puzzle on your own!) and you can play with up to 6 players with the expansion pack.
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What is the ship made out of?
It’s a flexible, durable material in the plastics family that’s perfect for making a ship that would hold its shape, dispense ducks easily, and be super fun to touch.
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What are the ducks made out of?
They’re non-toxic acrylic. Still, don’t put them in your mouth.
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How many ducks are there?
80! We wanted there to be enough ducks to ensure statistically random probability of drawing any color duck. The Expansion adds an extra 40 standard ducks, and 10 Glitter Ducks.
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How does the ship work?
Flaps on the top of the ship are flexible and allow players to easily reach in to remove single ducks, or put a handful of ducks back in the cargo hold. There’s enough empty space on the inside that you can shake up the ducks real good to make sure you’re pulling them out randomly (also function as an excellent maraca.)
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How did you choose the Formation and Action Cards?
Short answer: exhaustive playtesting.
Longer answer: we imagined all the different formations that could be realistically created by 10 ducks spread evenly across two rows and played each of them to see if they were doable, fun, and appropriately challenging. The process for the Action Cards was similar, but it was more about what players wanted to be able to do to move ducks around their board and then making sure the Action Cards weren’t too powerful. In general, if it wasn’t fun or fair, we scrapped it.
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How do I get more ducks after capturing a formation card?
Grab them out of the spaceship, of course! Once you’ve captured a Formation Cards, the ducks remaining on your board all move downstream immediately, leaving no empty spaces between them. Then, players will take ducks from the ship, one at a time, and refill the empty ponds.
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How long is each turn?
Playtesters were finishing their turns in 30 to 90 seconds. Plus, we’ve designed the game so the majority of the “duck refilling” activity happens after you’ve already passed your turn to the next player, which really keeps things moving.
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When does the game end?
At the beginning of each game, you’ll randomly count out a stack of 12 formation cards that you’ll all compete for (the game comes with double that, so you won’t see every formation every game). Once all the Formation Cards have been captured, the game ends, and whoever has the most points wins!
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When and how will you fulfill Kickstarter orders?
Like Puns of Anarchy, Charty Party, and Ransom Notes, we have a fulfillment partner in place. We’ve already placed an initial order with our manufacturing partner, and are in constant communication with them about the manufacturing process. We're projecting a May 2023 delivery to be safe, but hope to deliver the game earlier than that.
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How do international (non-U.S.) pre-orders work?
We're happy to announce pre-orders are now open to many countries outside of the U.S., after high demand! We've already partnered with fulfillment partners in these regions to ensure a smooth delivery. Shipping costs, VAT and other taxes are all covered in your purchase!
Fan Art Gallery
Amazing Abducktion art submitted by superfans! Send us yours and we'll post it here.
