The indie gaming scene is no stranger to bizarre animal protagonists, but Brazilian developer Asteristic Game Studio might have just cooked up the most wonderfully chaotic hero yet.
Meet DekaDuck—a 2D action platformer starring a half-duck, half-robot bounty hunter on a mission to bring the galaxy’s most wanted criminals to justice (while, ironically, working for a criminal himself).
If you miss the golden age of 16-bit and Sega Saturn side-scrollers, this is one title you need to put on your radar immediately.
A Cyborg Duck Born From Chaos
The premise is exactly the kind of beautiful, high-concept nonsense that made ’90s gaming great. While fleeing the Intergalactic Police, a brilliant scientist named Dr. Less crashes his ship on an uncharted planet. Cornered and desperate, he uses his mechanical genius—and his daughter’s pet duck—to engineer the ultimate cybernetic bounty hunter: DEKADUCK.
Now, our feathered hero has to blast his way through six secret-packed planets, unravel a massive sci-fi conspiracy, and dodge Captain Aiko of the Intergalactic Police, who happens to have a massive crush on him.
The Secret Weapon: A Detachable Mechanical Arm
While DekaDuck comes equipped with plenty of fast-paced running, gunning, and super-dashing, the real star of the show is his detachable mechanical arm.
Inspired by retro classics like Mischief Makers, Mega Man, and Alien Soldier, this game builds its entire loop around reactive physics and momentum rather than fixed platforming solutions.
- Grab and Throw: You can launch Deka’s mechanical fist to grab almost anything in the environment—including platforms, items, and enemies.
- Weaponise the Local Wildlife: Grabbing different enemies unlocks unique, temporary abilities. You can swing a bat-like alien around as a boomerang, use a springy creature to bounce to high ledges, or turn small duck toys into improvised explosives.
Rather than just memorising level layouts, DekaDuck forces you to look at the enemies on screen as tools to solve puzzles and take down massive bosses.
Hand-Drawn Nostalgia Meets Modern Fluidity
Visually, DekaDuck looks phenomenal. Asteristic Game Studio has opted for fully hand-drawn digital art and frame-by-frame animations, giving the game a crisp, expressive, Saturday-morning-cartoon aesthetic. Pair that with a pulse-pounding, synth-heavy soundtrack by retro-gaming composer Dominic Ninmark, and you have a recipe for serious nostalgia.
Play the Demo Now!
The best news? You don’t have to take our word for how it plays. Asteristic Game Studio has officially launched the DekaDuck Kickstarter campaign, and they’ve dropped a playable demo on Steam to celebrate.
The crowdfunding campaign is live right now to help fund expanded content, and yes, console players are covered. Thanks to a partnership with publisher Nejcraft, the Kickstarter includes options to secure physical editions for both the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5.
Head over to Steam, test out Deka’s mechanical arm for yourself, and get ready for some high-flying, robot-smashing avian chaos.
#DekaDuck #IndieGames #GamingNews #RetroGaming #Platformer #SciFiGaming #Kickstarter #SteamDemo #TechMash