Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Easier to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Light strategy
Luck-sensitive
How it plays
How does it play?
Move a colorful flock around your grid, cover splashes, and finish each lightning-fast round with the lowest-value ducks showing.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Simultaneous Action Selection
Choose actions secretly or concurrently before revealing them together.
Layering
Place components over earlier pieces so their order and overlap affect play.
Bingo
Mark matching results on a personal grid and complete required patterns.
Score-and-Reset Game
Score repeated rounds or hands, then reset the play state and continue.
Read the full game description
Duck & Cover is a simultaneous family card game about keeping your bathtub as tidy as possible. Every player begins with the same nine numbered ducks arranged in a three-by-three grid. A caller reveals a number, and everyone must move the matching duck: either slide it into the empty space created by earlier moves or stack it over an adjacent duck. Covering reduces the number of cards still visible, while careful sliding positions the flock for future calls. If nobody can move the announced duck, the call is repeated or reset according to the simple deck rhythm. A round ends when one player has consolidated the flock or the caller deck runs out; visible splash values become points, and the lowest total after three rounds wins. Because all players solve the same sequence at once, turns disappear, comparison is immediate, and a tiny ruleset creates a satisfying spatial puzzle for children and adults alike.
