Duck Life 9: The Flock news & patch notes

Hey there, fellow Ducks,

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/7cc370ac8c7f034aedb67fe7bec4a985e3d88d54.png This update introduces the wizards tower into the flock. In this mysterious building you’ll find the Wizard Duck. If you donate him enough materials, he can transform the look of your flock's environment! Bored of the grassy pastures? Why not turn your flock into a beach? Or how about a volcano area with a lava river? Your flock will never look the same again! That’s everything for now. Don’t forget to leave a review if you haven’t yet, and wishlist the game. ➣ Follow us on Socials and stay up to date

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{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/d4d339b6629fb41c49f5b02d2ca8572ce875c693.png Catch you soon on the island!✌️ ~Wix Games

Gather up Ducks!

We're taking part in the Steam Summer Sale from June 27 till July 11, you can get your friends and soon-to-be fellow ducks in for -20% off. You heard right: Duck Life 9 will be on sale from now until the Steam Summer sale ends. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416880/Duck_Life_9_The_Flock/

⚠️ Don’t forget to check our Duck Life collection.👇

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/02a7c7deedc46502777cc7333df7d6a93896659a.jpg If you're still keeping Duck Life 9 on the wishlist, now is the time to buy it for an incredible value. Grab a copy for yourself & let your friends know about it! Catch you soon on the island! ~Wix Games

Hey there, fellow Ducks,

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/922e957f4f0d60d6b75ae5066b66431e419ceace.png You might have wondered what is in the cave, and I am happy to let you know that it’s now available in our latest Update 1.1 Enter the Cave. But before that, we want to take a moment to thank our amazing community for their continuous support. Alright, let's dive into the notes and see what this update is all about!

Update Notes

• Post-game content (we won’t spoil it here! 😉)
• Added the Arcade, a place where you can play any training game you want and go for highscores! You can build this in your flock after you have beaten the game
• New flock decorations.
• You can now rotate flock decorations with the Q and E keys
• Fixed bug that stopped slow ducks being able to escape water in races

With that said, I am happy to also announce our first Village Decorating Contest. ▶️ For more information about the event, check out our Discord Server. That’s everything for now. Don’t forget to leave a review if you haven’t yet, and wishlist the game. ➣ Follow us on Socials and stay up to date

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• TikTok
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{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/d4d339b6629fb41c49f5b02d2ca8572ce875c693.png Catch you soon on the island!✌️ ~Wix Games

- Fixed bug that caused your meal count to double every time you put one in your bag - Fixed bug in the Sunflower Ravine tournament race which made your duck never climb to the top of the wall - Fixed broken tightrope in a Toadstool Towers race - Tenzing will now be added to your recruit queue when transferring completed save data over from the demo version - Fixed issue in Jumping Pro minigame where flumes would spawn too far away for you to reach - Fixed issue in Jumping Pro where chest contents would not match the item image appearing on the chest speech bubble - Fixed wall clip in Sunflower Ravine - Fixed duck sorting options - Fixed a rare bug that prevented the game from starting

Hello, fellow ducks!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/a8a5589cf9bc7b39aef34608a6fc6b57dd4091d2.png We've got some exciting news to share with you! In the spirit of celebrating our release of Duck Life 9, we're excited to bundle the whole series. Introducing the "Duck Life Ultimate Collection" bundle with an exclusive -20% discount. If you want to get the entire Duck Life experience, now is your chance! https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/41414/Duck_Life_Collection/ Already own one of these epic games? No problem! The bundle adjusts, so you only pay for the game you don't have – and you'll still snag that extra discount. So whether you're a seasoned duck or you want to grow some wings, this bundle has got you covered. Grab this deal and embark on an epic journey with your favourite ducks! ~Wix Games

- New overhead icons - Fixed training level cap bug when close to level 50 - Fix animation looping during fishing - Implement fishing rod upgrade functionality during fishing - Fix dialogue locking when talking to Viola - Improve behaviour of climbable vines and stepping stones in overworld - Fix softlock that sometimes occurred when attempting to skip news cutscenes - Fixed duck task stealing in Flock - Fixed jumping conversations in Flock - Tweaked duck AI decision making

After many months of hard work, we’re finally ready to unveil our biggest project yet! As a small indie studio, we couldn’t have achieved this monumental feat without the support of our fans and our beta testers - we appreciate all of you! Duck racing is officially back! We’re thrilled to announce that Duck Life 9: The Flock is now available to play on PC, so get ready to dive in to the biggest, craziest, and most fun Duck Life game ever! You’ve been handed a first-class ticket to Featherhaven Island - but what should you expect once you touch down? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/7f3cb26faca4b4e03acb1daf1eea4c032e97cc71.png

Duck Life In The Fast Lane

It wouldn’t be a Duck Life game without races - and this game is packed full of them! As you venture around the island, yo’ll uncover dozens of unique, bespoke race tracks to test your mettle. Also, for the first time ever, we’ve leapt into the third dimension to give each track more personality and fun than ever before! Enjoy watching your ducks race in full 3D - and if they’re lagging behind, you can cheer them on from the sidelines to give them an extra burst of speed! Be warned, however: powerful Champion Ducks will try and halt your progress through the Featherhaven Island Tournament Circuit, so be sure to bring our A-game against these quarrelsome quackers! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/34f490d729e5e192eaf6642f304cea77fcdfc21c.png

What The Flock?!

One of Duck Life 9’s standout features is the Flock, a leisurely idyll where your ducks can socialise, chop down trees, and even farm crops for you. And you heard me right: in this game, you can recruit an army of ducks for you to choose between when planning the perfect racing strategy! Filling your Flock with feathered friends can help you tackle the game’s most challenging races - a problem shared is a problem halved, right? When your chirpy comrades are all puffed out from racing, they can recharge their batteries in the Flock. Eating carefully-prepared meals can increase their energy levels, and they’ll also get a happiness boost if you fill your Flock with pretty decorations. You can turn your Flock into a machine of agricultural industry, or you can create a verdant, enchanting forest of quacky paradise - the possibilities are endless! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/2c8e0eba859e9cdc8445bf15c97331ba79bcbe9a.png

Welcome To The Island!

We’ve crammed an incredible amount of content into this game, even beyond the races and the Flock. You and your favourite duck can navigate Featherhaven Island’s many stunning environments in full 3D, and make friends with over 100 unique, colourful characters! Test yourself against a plethora of training games and minigames as you progress through the Tournament! Dress your ducks up in stylish costumes, hats, and shoes! We could go on forever - but you’ll just have to play the game yourself to truly experience everything that Featherhaven Island has to offer. So, pack your suitcase and prepare for the perfect island getaway in Duck Life 9: The Flock! All of us at Wix Games really hope that you enjoy Duck Life 9 - and if you do, we’d love it if you left us a quacking review on Steam!

Hey, Ducks! The day we've all been waiting for is almost here! Get ready because tomorrow, MAY 7TH, our flock is about to get bigger with the release of DUCK LIFE 9: THE FLOCK. Mark your calendars and get ready! Don't forget to WISHLIST the game if you haven't already. We would like to take a moment to thank all of you for your continued support! We can not wait to share this next chapter with you, this is a massive leap forward compared to our previous titles! Watch our latest teaser trailer to celebrate this joyful event! Now, let’s move on to the last recap of the most important features coming to Duck Life 9! Shall we?

Duck Management

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/1ae278cb65436aa2fcc51ff7fae6393b0af5cef3.png Each duck has needs which must be taken care of. Your duck can start feeling a bit down when it’s been left alone for too long, needs a quick toilet break, it hasn't had a snack in a while, or it hasn't caught some Zs in a while. If these needs are not maintained, it will start affecting your duck negatively. This can make traveling around the flock a bit trickier and completing tasks a tad slower. While they are smart and make their own choices, they sometimes need help to decide which task is the best thing to do. So leaving them alone for too long can be detrimental. Remember, a happy duck is a quacking good companion!

New Quests

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/e3b00e310bcf73b99587bd673bb4f82285af5ad2.png We've added quests to the game! We’re making sure to pack as much fun and variety into the overworld as possible. Explore around the map, and complete the quest to earn cool rewards!

Someone’s Tummy Rumbling?

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/64058ee66bd656b26e136cb8b76f3e6bfc53d7a6.png Here is the cooking screen, where all the magic happens. Here you’ll be able to mix ingredients you’ve harvested into a consumable meal, or instantly assemble a meal from the list of ones you’ve already unlocked. In the image above, is the “recipes” tab, where there’s a list of every meal you’ve discovered. Just click on one from the list, and the section in the centre of the screen will tell you all about it, right down to the combination of ingredients it requires. Select that shiny pink “cook” button and we’re away! Providing you have the duckroot on hand, you’ve got yourself 1 fresh serving of chopped duckroot, ready to feed to a flock member on the right of the screen, or save for later in your inventory. The second (blue) tab on the cooking screen is the “make” tab, which shows you a list of all the ingredients you have harvested from various sources around the island, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves - we’ll talk about those in another dev log! The make tab allows you to manually drag any combination of said ingredients into the cooking pot, in the hopes that it will end up being a lucky combo to discover a new meal for your recipes tab. Don’t worry though - if you don’t get it right your resources won’t be wasted, they’ll be turned into a generic “improper” meal item that you can still feed to a duck, just with far smaller benefits.

Many new minigames!

Duck Life has always been known for its training mini games. But in Duck Life 9, we’ve included a whole bunch more mini games that have nothing to do with training whatsoever! Let’s take a look at two of them:

• Crystal Mines

  {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/ebba89da1da964a9d3f1759efd721e78f26b1c7a.png Deep below the Crystal Desert is the Crystal Mines, where there’s treasure to be found! Unfortunately, the only way out of the mine is via a terrifying mine cart track. Use the brake to control the speed of the mine cart and stop it flying off the track (or make it fly off the track and land nicely for swag points!). If you make it to the end of the track without crashing, the treasure is yours!

• Archery Cave

  {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/01d70aa55beae7e6fa44230d229706b99b8adb73.png In the archery cave, your duck is given a crossbow and told to shoot! Shoot all the targets on the doors to open them up and progress through the cave. Watch the time limit bar at the bottom because if it runs out, you’ll have to start over. Get them to the end of the cave before running out of time to receive a mystery prize!

Cultural Exchange - New Animal Friends

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/3c0fb689fcbc57672bb631132eab86187733919b.png Duck Life finally has more than just ducks! That’s right, it’s a big wide world out there and for too long it’s been feeling a little sparse, populated by only ducks and their elusive human friends. No longer! Duck Life 9 has a cast of over 15 new characters, each with their own way to help contribute to your flock. Don’t be shy, they don’t bite! (Apart from Tyler the Tiger) Tomorrow will be the full release! Join our Discord server to stay updated and join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel. Wishlist the game now if you haven’t already! Catch you soon on Featherhaven Island! 🦆

Hello Folks! Hope you are all ready because... WE'RE RELEASING THE GAME IN 2 DAYS FROM NOW! We can not wait for you to put your hands (or wings if you're an actual duck) onto the game! Let’s keep going with the recap of the most important features coming to Duck Life 9! Shall we?

Speak easy

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/4dc2c37eed1b15bc10937e217a16618624ba22cc.gif We’ve given unique personalities to every character on the island, while also retaining the relatable, approachable, and slightly absurd personality of the series. You’ll never quite know what to expect when you start talking to someone! It’s a feature you’ll look forward to, not just something to smash the “A” button through. We’ve taken a lot of inspiration from the Animal Crossing series of games and how well they get across an animal’s character in only a few lines of text.

Building the ultimate village

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/b2f465c456cb5b6ecad45baa8b269d2d20fc027a.png With a bustling flock, your ducks need a place to call home. Create a thriving duck village using resources earned from races and training games. From cooking pots to training centres, every aspect can be tailored to your ducks' needs. And let's not forget about the essential duck necessities – somewhere to sleep and yes, even somewhere to poop! Adorn the village with decorations and shops, where ducks can find stylish hats, costumes and more. Just make sure to recruit a suitable shopkeeper first!

Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/516624ba5baa42dbf4a1db1b73c91fa4f4aa62f0.png Everyone loves upgrades, and here in the Flock almost everything can be upgraded! Want access to more training games? All you need to do is upgrade your training centre! Everything, down to the speed at which you chop down trees can be improved, so get saving your resources and set yourself some milestones! With a little hard work, your ducks will soon be the buffed-up lumberjack powerhouses they know they can be!

Check out the drip

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/c5d6df401b18dca633aa40742d97abc3d07d7ee3.png This time around, clothes are more than just for show. You can put them on a duck to give it bonus levels! Each item of clothing you equip provides its unique combination of skill benefits. You might want to use them to make up for a particular duck’s shortcomings and turn them into a more rounded racer, or to boost its highest-level skills all the way to the moon! This means that as well as making your ducks look all spangly and catwalk-ready, they also function a little like the weapons and costumes from Duck Life Adventure, which had certain affinities and resistance bonuses tied to them. Don’t worry - your inventory will have more than enough space for you to chop and change your looks between the members of your flock!

Sharing is caring

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/32aa8a55eacc564c97acbfc3b2ae4aac0be15edf.png Of course, you can acquire clothes from many different sources - shops, race winnings, or even from the jelly coin machine! Above you can see a pretty chilled-out duck modeling the fabulous rabbit outfit, as if he could get any cuter. Should you choose to pair items from a matching set together, you’ll often end up with a duck who is an absolute powerhouse in one or two particular skills. Bunnies are good at jumping, so you can expect to bound ahead in races! If you recruit a new duck to your Flock, they will often bring some clothing with them. Ducks love to share their wardrobe, so you'll be rolling in options before you know it! Also, seeing as you’re controlling more than just one duck this time around, you won’t be locked to just one single copy of each costume, hat or shoe. If you want to give the entire flock a single uniform look, then you bet you can try!

Cool Runnings

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/0c0732c801e935eb2290ed0e87d2a0d7dc2ddae9.png “And they’re off! Billy takes the lead followed by Heather, Derice just behind with Lucy at the rear, it’s anyone's game so early on. Wait! What’s this? The crowds are cheering Lucy on and she’s pulling out front!” “Derice is now in last place and seems low on energy, how is he going to recover from this? But wait! Derice has just pulled out an apple and he’s regaining his strength, there’s a chance he can win this!” This is what the races are all about. We want everything you do to matter. Having food is essential to keep your duck's energy up, and motivating them helps your duck race ahead. These races are about endurance and skill. Being prepared will ensure you come out on top!

I wanna be the very best

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/150d5e39cb042508f2ec2615b1f8754b9d116238.png It’s not just about running, between you and the goal are obstacles that will challenge your duck's other abilities. This is why we train, people! The races are set on wild terrain. Sometimes it'll be smooth sailing, then BAM - a cliff drops into the ocean. Talk about a quack attack! Don't freak out though - we got your duck's back. The races are beatable for all. If you don’t have flying unlocked then the race won’t require it; however, the extent at which you trained your duck in flying (or any other ability) will determine their ability to do that task.

To the victor goes the spoils

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/edffbe12bb8adcfdf61b5fdee239130cd66c27f2.png At the end of it all is the grandiose celebration, on par with the Olympic Games or the Grand Prix! When your duck crosses that finish line, cue the confetti cannons! Cameras flash as the crowd goes wild, cheering your feathered champion's success. Your hard work paid off big time! Even if your duck doesn't nab first place, keep on training! There's always another race ahead and victory could be yours. Just imagine your duck standing atop that podium, gold medal gleaming! Win or lose, you're all champions in our book. But strap in for the ride of your life as we go for the gold! Heart-pounding action awaits at the ultimate duckathlon. Let's get quackin', racers! Fame and fortune call - it's time to make history! That’s everything for now, but come tomorrow for another recap! Join our Discord channel to stay updated and join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game, you can do so now on the official Steam page. See you on May 7th.

Hello hello Ducks! This is the final stretch for Duck Life 9 to release... JUST 3 DAYS LEFT! We're so happy about what the game looks like and all of the new adventures you will face! We're going to recap all of the most important features coming to the game in these 3 days, let's go for it!

A new lick of paint

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/1e010739a7562e3c3b401845fa7b3b36eec6380d.png With every new game, we’re always trying to push the boundaries of how beautiful we can make the world around you, so this time we’ve decided to go with a lovely pastel art style, with calligraphic outlines to nail that painterly feel. Above you can see some of the visual development of how we evolved the look of the ducks, with the OG style on the left morphing into something a little *too* different in version 2, and being reigned back into something more familiar by the end. The result is a cute new spin on the designs seen in Duck Life Adventure, with slightly altered proportions, fluffy shoulders and some feet that lend themselves a lot better to the new 3D environment.

You’ve got a golden ticket!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/38d76c79f3ca337685321c076565cdade737405c.png Duck Life 9 is set in the tropical paradise of Featherhaven Island. The island is separated into 9 areas, but we’re not going to be spoiling them all today, where would be the fun in that?? Take a look below to see what we’re willing to reveal to you this week...

Cel shading

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/a7254d747982c89621f81e334b58170fde2e84ed.png Cel shading is a great way to give a 3D object a cartoony appearance. When used right, everything will pop out with bright colors that help bring the world to life. Less is more and that’s what we’ve tried to do, many of the models use a simple gradient to help give a subtle bit of depth whilst the shadows are key to giving us our lighting. Using the shadows right gives us lovely shapes that can turn a simple flat surface into a fluffy meadow worthy of lying in under the stars!

It's in the details

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/018aa55a6b8be784a7ae5546e8f4fd740d7bf8c9.png Sometimes it’s the little things that can bring the world to life, the visual effects (VFX) are a big part of that but it’s surprisingly easy to make them look realistic. Game dev tools are often made nowadays to do realism really well. The art is giving the game its character! The VFX is a language of its own and helps make Duck Life 9 feel special. The glints on the water are more than just dots which give it a magical look. The waterfall itself spits out comicbook style shapes that help to distance the look of the game from many other games.

Training games are back

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/f1b70aa27d1f56b2bdfa50fe55b125aa949c888d.png Training games are a staple of Duck Life and they will be returning in Duck Life 9! This time we have trainers from all over the animal kingdom, from Doug the Dog to Percy the Penguin - true masters of their skills. When you are below level 50 in a skill, you will do beginner training. Once you hit level 50 you can unlock pro training and train up to the maximum level of 100. Both types of training have 5 parts each, which you can unlock after every 10 levels. This makes a whopping total of 60 training mini games.

Perilous Planks

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/9216fa2fd0827cdf94b95c14569d5f82f1f2e8a1.png Perilous Planks procedurally creates a bridge going all the way from the entrance to the exit of the section, meaning each time you attempt this obstacle it will be a little different - memorizing the course won’t help you breeze through this one! The goal of this obstacle is very simple… Don’t fall off!! While this may seem easy to some, the true difficulty comes in when you combine the longer stretches with an overconfident speeding duck! If you are truly gifted in the ways of the running skill, you’ll be able to complete it without stopping or slowing down, but that of course, will come with practice. That’s everything for now, but come tomorrow for another recap! Join our Discord channel to stay updated and join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game, you can do so now on the official Steam page. See you on May 7th.

Hello fellow Ducks!

We are thrilled to announce that Duck Life 9: The Flock will be part of Farming Fest – the festival celebrating all things related to farming based video games starting today until May 6th. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/264a138d33e3510f38a45a1c226600b0a8b43b3c.png During the festival, you'll also have the chance to watch our devs stream Duck Life on the Steam page and get a sneak peek of what's coming with the game release. ➣ Don't forget to follow us on Socials and stay up to date

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{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/d4d339b6629fb41c49f5b02d2ca8572ce875c693.png Catch you soon on the island!✌️ ~Wix Games

Firsts

Hi everyone! It’s Sam the artist here, and I have the honour of bringing you guys the final Duck Life 9 dev log before the release of the game - yes, you read that right! It’s with great pleasure that I can finally reveal the release date of our latest entry into the series, Duck Life 9: The Flock, and that date is… The 7th of May! Mark your calendars! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/ce54b0f478f7b99108f8834621e7b09aaf7f2160.png In celebration of this, today’s blog post is going to be all about “firsts”, that being everything we’ve packed into DL9 that’s a “first” for the duck life series overall. Let’s face it; when you’re working on the ninth instalment of a series it can be hard to innovate the experience if you just keep sticking to the same old formula. “More races and mini games with a different coat of paint” may have been enough in the past, but as we look to the future and build up the Wix Games team we can finally start to push some boundaries. It may be the last dev log, but there’s ironically plenty of firsts to count down! Let’s go!

Plucky Polygons - 3D Graphics

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/7abda957dd63df35fe09b80ecaafbd40e83bc236.png Obvious ones first! Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you may have noticed that Duck Life 9 is now in THREE DIMENSIONS! We can finally stand shoulder-to-shoulder with many other popular games that we’ve considered an inspiration in the past, and racing your ducks can now be enjoyed the way it was intended all those years ago…

Update your CV - The Balancing Skill

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/6b96a936a2df432acaa76047e4f48f68cc1d56ff.png Another one that the more informed among you may already know, for the first time ever ducks must learn a skill not previously present in any Duck Life game - balancing! Not to worry, though - you’ve got Kat the cat to help you out! No doubt there’ll be a tightrope or two in the races, so best make sure you keep up with your training.

Cultural Exchange - New Animal Friends

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/3c0fb689fcbc57672bb631132eab86187733919b.png We all saw this coming - Duck Life finally has more than just ducks! That’s right, it’s a big wide world out there and for too long it’s been feeling a little sparse, populated by only ducks and their elusive human friends. No longer! Duck Life 9 has a cast of over 15 new characters, each with their own way to help contribute to your flock. Don’t be shy, they don’t bite! (Apart from Tyler the Tiger)

It’s Honest Work - Farming

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/c99639a6b6b3c130196b424cf0e66ad4ce6a9051.png Your ducks may not have thumbs, but if they did they’d be green. Given the right tools and a little bit of patience, you’ll never run out of provisions again! Over the course of your adventure you’ll be picking up various seeds that you can plant in your village to grow Juicespruce, Duckroot, Dazeradish and more…

Recipe for Success - Cooking

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/cb62c7822e3b188031973342f1c3a9b15edc246f.png And then you can put them to good use! If you want the biggest stat bonuses possible then you’ll definitely want to invest some time into discovering new recipes with the cooking pot, an upgradeable item in The Flock that you can use to mix, bake and stew yourself many different combinations of food, with over 30 possible resulting dishes. Eat up!

Got a Bite! - Fishing

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/3f6265112b8d44531679c4b65a6c4b7ff0b2c949.png Another source of ingredients for your culinary ventures - the rock pools in the Fishing Beach! Once you gain access to this secret hideaway on Featherhaven Island, Benson the Bear can teach you how to use nets and fishing rods, and you can begin catching some whoppers!

Community of Cuties - Build Your Village

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/ba10b0568d867f98cbe373cf70663fce310bd7c6.png You better believe it - it’s the name of the game - expand the flock zone and make it your own! The demo only offers a tiny taste of what’s possible, so believe me when I say that once you start using those Magic Water Droplets to upgrade your well, the options are only going to keep growing. When you’ve uncovered the full expanse of The Flock’s area then you can really start to get your SimCity juices flowing and build some delightful ducky neighbourhoods.

Hop, Skip and Jump! - Shoes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/f0c3cb165590918e8d90f6d37209304702ca284e.png Some people following our social media may have spotted our new friend Sid the Snake, who you’ll all hopefully meet very soon. He specialises in the collection and acquisition of the island’s finest footwear (don’t ask why, we haven’t a clue) and he’s willing to share his wares! This is the first time that ducks have ever had access to fashionable footwear, so make sure to look out for him when you’re exploring the lofty heights of Featherhaven.

Talk the Talk - Conversational Ducks

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/1ff80d62da0838767d92e9ce362788f685c28297.png Don’t be rude! Or do! In Duck Life 9 you can steer the discussion as you see fit, with multiple response options when talking to your island chums. Long gone are the days of having to sit and listen to Barbie Velvet run her mouth while you stare silently into the middle distance, now you can talk back! Quite Liberating, I know! That’s just about the last “first” we’re inclined to reveal at this point - to experience the full breadth of what we’ve got in store for you, we hope to see you in-game on release day - May 7th! Until then, join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page (wishlisting helps a lot with getting the game featured on Steam when it releases, so please do it if you can!)

Duck Life has always been known for its training mini games. But in Duck Life 9, we’ve included a whole bunch more mini games that have nothing to do with training whatsoever! In today’s dev log we’re going to take a look at some of them (warning, this dev log includes some spoilers!)

Archery Cave

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/01d70aa55beae7e6fa44230d229706b99b8adb73.png In the archery cave, your duck is given a crossbow and told to shoot! Shoot all of the targets on the doors to open them up and progress through the cave. Watch the time limit bar at the bottom because if it runs out, you’ll have to start over. Get the to end of the cave before running out of time to receive a mystery prize!

Beach Clean Up

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/1bddc86ce2d5ec498b4182c1469024a90c6eca6d.png A clumsy duck has dropped all of their precious paper cranes on the beach, and they need your help to pick them all up. But watch out, the tide is coming in (and fast!). You’ll have to think about the right route to take in order to pick them all up without letting any be taken by the ocean!

Pipes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/27b51d8495fa5b05b07431781246635261a86b27.png There’s a duck who’s having plumbing problems, and they’ve enlisted you to help (in exchange a tasty reward that is!). Click on a pipe segment to rotate it, and keep rotating segments until everything is connected up nicely. This one is a puzzler for sure!

Crystal Mines

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/ebba89da1da964a9d3f1759efd721e78f26b1c7a.png Deep below the Crystal Desert is the Crystal Mines, where there’s treasure to be found! Unfortunately, the only way out of the mine is via a terrifying mine cart track. Use the brake to control the speed of the mine cart and stop it flying off the track (or make it fly off the track and land nicely for swag points!). If you make it to the end of the track without crashing, the treasure is yours!

Hot Air Balloon

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/22e15310ac54f07539e0aff8a6d856d706fc42d9.png There’s something valuable in the sky, and luckily you have a hot air balloon to go and fetch it. Unluckily, the sky is full of obstacles and mines that are ready to pop your balloon and send you hurtling towards the ground! You can only move up and down, so you’ll have to use the wind gusts to move around

Toadstool Tower

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/e05820866019628e7d6328b92fc2b3042ec4c4eb.png Inside this enormous tower is a load of platforms, and it’s your job to jump up them all the way to the top! Some platforms are special and will give you a massive boost, but others will start to crumble as soon as you jump on them. Don’t fall down!

Volcano Skydive

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/f2caa234b2f2abcd6187e4ab583e5a83bba45cba.png Just outside the volcano is what the ducks lovingly call the “death hole”. This is a giant deep hole filled with lava, rocks and fireballs that no one should ever venture into. It’s your job to skydive all the way to the bottom, avoiding all the obstacles on the way down. If you make it to the bottoms there’s a prize for you, but that’s a big if! Believe it or not, there are even more mini games than this! But we’ll let you discover them for yourself when the game comes out next month. The next dev log in 2 weeks time will be the final one before release, so get ready for some big reveals! In the meantime, join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page (wishlisting helps a lot with getting the game featured on Steam when it releases, so please do it if you can!) Wix Games Mr.Wix

Mr.Wix is here, and today we’re going to do a deep dive (or big leap) into Jumping Beginner training!

The Jumping Maestro

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/005366d14f9a30ecefe7ccc3c2420cd633d6a4dd.png Who better to teach you than Featherhaven Island’s very own Fred the Frog! No other animal around can compete with Fred at jumping and he’s willing to teach you his skills (if you can find him that is!). He’ll train you in his swamp in one of 5 mini games. That’s right, this single training game has 5 games inside it. Don’t say we don’t treat you! Let’s take a closer look at them...

Skipping Rope

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/467e324f9dbd82ee664da825c54b02b393890f92.png In skipping rope, you need to jump over the rope and don’t get hit! You get xp every time you jump over the rope, and Fred might even throw you some coins if you do a lot of successful jumps in a row. Sounds easy? The rope moves faster and faster as you play, and begins to try to trick you by slowing down or speeding up. Not only that, the camera will start changing angles, and let’s just say some of these angles are... less than ideal...

Spinning Bar

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/37213f747a8fd5866c63ce343e983295ebab80f2.png In spinning bar you have to jump over (drumroll please) the spinning bar! But Fred has a few more tricks up his sleeve (or he would if he had any sleeves!). The red platforms that you stand on have a tendency to start falling down after a while. They’ll keep falling until there’s only one left so make sure you don’t fall with them! They shake before falling, so keep an eye on the one you’re standing on. If it starts shaking, run onto another platform! Fred then calls in another spinning bar so you need to jump over both of them. If you manage to make it this far, platforms start appearing out of the water while the ones you’re standing on disappear. This game is not for the faint-hearted!

Wave Makers

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/d399e754b3870684824ca61a5133a9af31ef0532.png Wave makers puts you in a shallow arena with 6 devices that slam into the water, creating water ripples that spread all the way across the arena. You have to try and survive as long as you can without any of the ripples tripping you up. At first you have to jump over only one ripple at a time, but as the game goes on you have to dodge 2, 3, or even 4 waves at a time! Watch the sewage pipe in the background, it may look gross but occasionally prize chests come out of there containing some useful items.

Pipes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/36a69e290661b30ece7b1c37bba90cd21e114fb2.png In the pipes game, you stand in the middle of the arena and have to dodge obstacles that come out of a pipe and bounce towards you. Some need to be jumped over while others need to bounce over you. Here’s a tip: the ones that you shouldn’t jump for are easy to spot because they all share a red colour! You’re not allowed to move so you have to rely on your jumping timing to survive. Like usual, Fred has a twist! After a while, the camera zoom out to reveal a second pipe that starts spitting out objects that hurtle towards our brave duck! It’s harder to concentrate on two pipes at once, but Fred isn’t finished there. The camera then zooms out even further to reveal a third pipe. Fred has one final trick after that, but we’ll let you find out that one for yourself!

Moles

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/91fc7cd82c3a6c321569efd4502e33eeef51cfce.png Pesky moles have invaded the swamp, and Fred needs your help! Luckily, this works perfectly as your final part of your jumping training, and he’s willing to pay you for the help! Moles will start appearing in the arena and creating dirt trails. Make sure you don’t let one run into you or you will fall and the training game will be over. You can jump on a dirt mound to make the mole pop it’s head up. Jump on it again to stun it and make it run away for good! You’ll need to keep on top of the moles (literally) and make sure they don’t overwhelm you. Moles will start appearing faster and faster as the game goes on, so try to survive as long as you can! That’s it for this week's dev log. Come back in two week’s time for another sneak peek into the game. Join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page Wix Games Mr.Wix

Welcome back to another ducktastic devlog. Storm here, your fav 3D artist(I hope)! Today we’ll be revisiting the races but this time round we have new places to explore and will dive deeper into how you can waddle your way to the finish line with tantalising trails that make being a skilled duck worth your weight in feathers.

Getting Started

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/22a1f67f285ee4a6512a68e67b9e446a37695764.png Getting to the final product requires a lot of designing and sketching, more often than not I draw concepts of the different things that make up the environments which help direct how the final thing will look. My desk is littered with books, sketches and coffee mugs. It’s no walk in the park but I didn’t choose the the duck life, the duck life chose me.

All New Places For Races

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/bc6e5edc78ee3f10e792fa4434e7375cf52d392f.png When it comes to races, we have you covered with loads of crazy new places! We wanted every race to feel unique so each race track is really long and broken up into different sections, this helps me to make a lot more races in a shorter period of time. Then just to add an extra layer of sauce we made different themed tracks so you might find yourself swimming around pirate shipwrecks in one, only to be dodging tornados in another.

Practice Makes Perfect

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/f45d0bd04f1d258bb01b9ad4181624afc5432547.png One of the advantages of using 3D is the ability to make more complex races, now the ducks can take different paths, find short cuts and use their superior skills to overtake your rivals when they least expect it. Each race will tests different abilities so a little bit of strategy will be needed for you to know what to train in order to make sure your duck is the very best!

Let There Be Light

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/4332c817079936404628b09df2e660c8dc80a2ad.png Recent developments have been on improving the overall colour pallet and making the world as pretty as a penguin in a tutu. One way of doing this was adding what’s called ‘Bloom’ to glowing objects. Now there are lanterns, windows and lava streams that twinkle with a fuzzy flow of light around them. Skyboxes and animations help make the world feel more alive whilst you’re looking out upon the horizon and in time you will see plenty more particles (Dust, leaves, wind etc), it’s the little details that really make it! That’s it for this week's dev log. Come back in two week’s time for another sneak peek into the game. Join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page

Hello again, folks! It’s Sam from the Wix Games team, coming back at you with a brand new dev log! This week we’re talking about how you go about preparing food for your flock, in order to keep them happy and boost their energy levels! The ducks of Featherhaven Island are well known for their esteemed and sophisticated tastes, which means you’ll be cooking all manner of different dishes to keep them nourished - there’s even a couple of beverages and dessert platters here and there. So, let’s get into the thick of it to make sure you’re up to speed for when you’ve got your own flock of friends.

Someone’s Tummy Rumbling?

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/64058ee66bd656b26e136cb8b76f3e6bfc53d7a6.png This here is the cooking screen, where all the magic happens. Here you’ll be able to mix together ingredients you’ve harvested into a consumable meal, or instantly assemble a meal from the list of ones you’ve already unlocked. In the image above, we’re looking at the “recipes” tab, where there’s a list of each and every meal you’ve discovered. Just click on one from the list, and the section in the centre of the screen will tell you all about it, right down to the combination of ingredients it requires. Select that shiny pink “cook” button and we’re away! Providing you had the duckroot to hand, you’ve got yourself 1 fresh serving of chopped duckroot, ready to feed to a flock member on the right of the screen, or save for later in your inventory. The second (blue) tab on the cooking screen is the “make” tab, which shows you a list of all the ingredients you have harvested from various sources around the island, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves - we’ll talk about those in another dev log! The make tab allows you to manually drag any combination of said ingredients into the cooking pot, in the hopes that it will end up being a lucky combo to discover a new meal for your recipes tab. Don’t worry though - if you don’t get it right your resources won’t be wasted, they’ll be turned into a generic “improper” meal item that you can still feed to a duck, just with far smaller benefits. Speaking of unlocking these new recipes…

The Proof is in the Pudding

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/e297719573201e15f24bee288a450fc51b197aa4.png You may have noticed that third, more mysterious tab on the cooking screen, and that’s the “recipe book” tab! It does exactly what it says on the tin - filled from cover to cover with 20 different meals that you’ll be discovering over the course of your journey across Featherhaven. Of course, at the start of the game most of the pages are obscured and need to be uncovered via various means, but once you’ve figured them out you’ll find them here. It’s a great way to keep track of just how far you’ve come on your culinary adventure, and whether or not there are better dinner choices to strive for! Some pages need to be discovered through experimentation, whereas others can be acquired through… alternate means.

Let’s Get a Takeout

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/f4ae7680855bfe42c90fd105e683c0266006f0af.png Ever had one of those days where you just feel too lazy to cook for yourself? We’ve all been there. Well for situations such as these, allow me to introduce you to Mona the Mouse, a spritely mouse who’s well versed in all aspects of Featherhaven’s rich cuisine! If you can find her, she’ll offer to open up a food shop in your flock, and once you’ve built one for her you’ll be able to pay her a visit and pick up a delicious pie or two. Now this does, of course, come with its own set of pros and cons. While you’re saving on time, effort and don’t need to use up any of your own ingredients, buying every single meal this way is probably going to hurt your wallet in the long run, so make sure you don’t become over reliant on her services! That said, looks like she’s got a couple of recipe pages in stock - they could be a worthy investment… That’s all for this week, friends! I hope that doesn’t leave a sour taste in your mouth. Come back in two week’s time for another jam-packed look into the game. Join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page

Welcome to an extra special edition of the Dev Log! We asked our Discord members for any questions that they have about the new game, and today we’re going to be answering some of our favourites! Will it be like all previous DuckLife games where there is a clear ending or will it be like Animal Crossing or The Sims where there isn't a clear ending? - Duckzila There will indeed be a clear ending, however this time we are concentrating a lot more on post-game content than we ever have before. The story may have a clear ending but the game will not end so easily! Will we have any appearances from the villains/final race competitors or protagonists from other games in DL9? - Avimo There are currently plans to bring back a whopping 8 characters from previous games! Who these characters are, you’ll have to discover for yourself Do you have any idea exactly when in early 2024 it will come out? Just curious, no pressure ofc - Avimo There’s nothing scarier for a game developer than announcing a solid release date. It’s almost impossible to accurately predict how long it will take to make a game (as I’m sure you’ve seen with other games having their release dates pushed back or being released in an unfinished state!). What I can tell you is we’re planning to release a demo of the game for Steam Next Fest in February next year, and hopefully get the game out on some platforms by March/April What games inspired this entry? - poolpeer9000 Inspiration from other games is such an important thing with everything we make. There’s the Chao racing from Sonic Adventure 2, which inspired the series in the first place. Duck Life 9 takes a lot of inspiration from Cult of the Lamb, Animal Crossing and The Sims for the flock building part of the game. Legend of Zelda and A Short Hike were big inspirations for the exploration part of the game, and the training games have a whole host of inspirations like Fall Guys, Mario Party, Subway Surfers and a load of flash games like Totem Destroyer, Helicopter Game and Red Remover. Any plans for Multiplayer? Or anything like the arena in DL7 & DL8? - Duckzila Yes! (If we have time) and it will be the most developed multiplayer we’ve ever released in a Duck Life game! (If we have time to make it that is) Will there be a demo available before the full game is released? - 9Withers Yes, we released a demo as part of Steam Next Fest in February. You can play it on Steam now! When did the development start? - floppa gaming We started designing the game in September 2022, and development fully started in April 2023 Pimples the Clown has diamond shaped eyes. Will there be more Crazy Eye Shapes in the duck designer? - Mayorfoxia82 Pimples the Clown has diamond shaped pupils because he is a member of a race of ducks called Crystal Ducks. That’s all the information I can give right now! What will the max level be? - Irl duck from duck life 100 What are some features getting added because of feature requests? - Mayorfoxia82 For some context, we have a channel on the Wix Games Discord Server where people can post ideas of what to put in the new game. There have been some great ideas posted, and we have indeed used some of them in the game! Here’s a small sample of some of the ideas we are using: - Gradient coloured ducks - Ducks who have appeared in previous games as NPCs - Bring back the prize machine - Create your own cosmetics - Bring body tattoos back - Shoes for ducks Race / Level Editor planned at all? - Duckzila Nope, we learned our lesson in the flash version of Duck Life 2 Will there be race boost power ups like in duck life adventure? - DogeDeer Yes! The race power ups you can use are called ‘Cheer’, ‘Apple’, ‘Dive’ and ‘Ground slam’. What they do exactly, you’ll have to find out by playing the game! Can there be like an open beta for duck life 9 later in the server? It would be really cool. - Noor We won’t be doing an open beta, but we will be selecting some Discord server members to participate in a closed beta. If you want to get involved, join the server and look out for an announcement early next year What happened to the humans in DL series? - DucklifeFan The humans have always been there. You are the humans. Will the game have more than one ending? - DucklifeFan No How many time passed between DLA and DL9? Or this is a prequel? - DucklifeFan Duck Life 9 follows on directly from the end of Duck Life Adventure What do you think of the hate comments you had for changing the duck designs (I don't hate them, but I'm surprised by the hate)? - DucklifeFan People will always be resistant to changes in their favourite game franchises. We don’t mind it, it just means people are passionate about our games! In the world of gaming we’ve seen this kind of thing many times before. When Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was first announced for example, some people absolutely hated the art style because it wasn’t what they were used to in a Zelda game. Now, in hindsight, it’s seen as one of the absolute best games of the series. We hope that any doubters will give the new style a chance, we think it works much much better for the 3D world than the old style ever could. When will devlogs stop? Will they carry on until DL9 releases, or will they stop at maybe devlog 20 or 25? - Duckzila We’re hoping to keep the dev logs going right up until we release the game. Don’t worry about us running out of ideas, there’s always plenty more to talk about! That’s everything for now, but come back soon for more dev logs! We post here every two weeks. Join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page

Hi everyone! It’s Freddie, back with another update about exciting Duck Life 9 content! This time around, we’ll be exploring a handful of the different quests we’ve added to the game. We’re making sure to pack as much fun and variety into the overworld as possible; in fact, just in this Devlog, we’ll go from piloting hot air balloons to navigating tricky hedge mazes!

Clowning Around

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/e3b00e310bcf73b99587bd673bb4f82285af5ad2.png Although hot air balloons have featured in past Duck Life games, we’ve introduced a series-first here: you’ll be able to fly the balloon yourself and control your duck as they close in on the prize. You’ll need to carefully navigate airborne obstacles if you want to claim the key that Pimples is talking about here. I wonder what you need it for in the first place… Of course, a quest is nothing without a reward at the end of it, and in Duck Life 9 some of these rewards will enable you to unlock new challenging races and, in turn, open the doors for further exploration of the island. Introducing: Tournament Tickets!

Tickets, Please

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/83fd6d8146eceed3c468b4cbe52a6b13ba5608af.png That’s right - many of Featherhaven Island’s quests will unlock these sparkly tickets! They’re called Tournament Tickets, and each one grants you entry into a different Tournament. As you can see, each area of the game has its own ticket, which means plenty of different quests for you to get stuck into! We’ve made sure that each Tournament Ticket quest fits seamlessly into its area, whilst also retaining a lot of uniqueness in each one: this means that one minute you’ll be uniting two wayward lovers, and the next you’ll be mining for precious gems in the desert!

Quest Like The Best

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/9b2f7a51256cf0b5626f0b07ab7c4d7bb833ffa5.png That said, even once every Tournament Ticket has been collected, there will still be plenty of questing left to do around Featherhaven Island. For example, solving this labyrinthine hedge maze won’t net you a Tournament Ticket, but it’s still packed with coins and other treasures for you to discover. Around every corner, though, will be plenty of speedy ducks who won’t let you pass without a race - tread with caution!

Finder's Keepers!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/c11fa416c561474f1b170b7d4abd85c8d13f2690.png Elsewhere on the island, poor Gerry here is looking for some treasure… but can’t he see that it’s right behind him? Maybe, the “treasure” that he’s looking for is of a different sort…? Perhaps, by helping him, you can take the contents of that treasure chest right from under his beak? That’s everything for now, but come back soon for more dev logs! We post here every two weeks. Join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page

- New path building mode and path options in the flock - Added Steam cloud saving - Improved performance - Reduced frequency of random crashes - Ducks now visibly sleep when passed out on the ground - Improved equipment and food info boxes in the inventory - Added more sound effects - Fixed graphical bug concerning cut-outs in transition screens - Improved training centre interior - Improvements to dialogue expressions - Fixed flying across chasms in Spring Meadows - General bug fixes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/7b261ede129ff4b40ff00646b51b01eae67a1571.png Hello everyone! Wix Games will be live streaming Duck Life 9: The Flock on Feb. 7 @ 7.30pm GMT / 2.30pm EST / 11.30am PST Be on the lookout for official Steam keys drops that will unlock the full game once it is released. If you watch, you may get a free Steam key ;) See you all in the stream! If you haven't already, you can wishlist Duck Life 9: The Flock below, so you don't miss the launch discount. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416880/Duck_Life_9_The_Flock/

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/7b261ede129ff4b40ff00646b51b01eae67a1571.png Hello everyone! Wix Games will be live streaming Duck Life 9: The Flock on Feb. 5 @ 9pm GMT / 4pm EST / 1pm PST Be on the lookout for official Steam keys drops that will unlock the full game once it is released. If you watch, you may get a free Steam key ;) See you all in the stream! If you haven't already, you can wishlist Duck Life 9: The Flock below, so you don't miss the launch discount. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2416880/Duck_Life_9_The_Flock/

Hey there, Duck Adventurers! Alex here with devlog 11 Within the flock, you'll be the caretaker of the most lovable virtual duck friends imaginable. These magical feathered buddies rely on your help to keep their spirits high and their feathers shining. But here's the real magic: these duckies aren't just waiting around for you to tell them what to do. They're smart, and they make their own decisions too! Watch as they play, explore, and interact with their world in the most delightful and surprising ways

Duck Management

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/1ae278cb65436aa2fcc51ff7fae6393b0af5cef3.png Each duck has needs which must be kept. Your duck can start feeling a bit down when it’s been left alone for too long, needs a quick toilet break, it hasn't had a snack in a while or it hasn't caught some Zs today yet. If these needs are not maintained, it will start affecting your duck negatively. This can make traveling around the flock a bit trickier and completing tasks a tad slower. While they are smart and make their own choices, they sometimes need help to decide which task is the best thing to do. So leaving them alone for too long can be detrimental. Remember, a happy duck is a quacking good companion!

Duck Socialising

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/b31899f601df1d2bbef3381a7acf8c1456e1926f.png Ducks are very social and love talking to one another. Maybe they had a tough day at the training centre, they’ve just met for the first time, or maybe they are lower levelled so they needed some guidance. You can follow these conversations in the thoughts tab of the Duck Menu. However, these disappear after a while, so do check in; otherwise, you may miss some of the excitement around the flock. Unfortunately ducks don’t have access to the training centre without you so they are unable to train while you go off and explore the wilderness that is Featherhaven Island.

Divine Oversight

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/590069ae171a31e6d257b7e9fabfd3d80d85b30b.png Even when you're out and about, exploring Featherhaven or engaged in training, your ducks continue to toil behind the scenes. They chop wood, educate, mine rubies, and engage in social interactions, only pausing for some much-needed rest during the night cycle. However, at any point, you can return and provide direction according to your wishes. As the player, you have the ultimate say. If you see your ducks socialising, you can send them back to work. If a duck is especially fatigued, you can let them retire early, ensuring they're rejuvenated for the adventures ahead. That’s everything for now, but come back soon for more dev logs! We post here every two weeks. Join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page

Get ready to party, duck fans - it's the 10th Devlog celebration! Storm here, with all the juicy details on the epic races coming to Featherhaven Island. This is gonna be wild, folks. Your feathery racer will face raging rivers, sheer cliffs, and deep dark holes - the ultimate test of duckly skill! All that training has led to this moment. The trophy gleams, victory awaits - who will claim duck supremacy?! Strap in and buckle up, it's gonna be a rollercoaster ride to racing glory! The island calls, adventure beckons! Happy 10th Devlog, duck fans. Now let's do this!

3, 2, 1…. GO!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/4ab10a0d95d4e331fc4588910351711a21bdc985.png We have the lineup ready and raring to go, sweat rolling down your brow as the suspense builds. The only thing between you and the track is the countdown. Like the street races of old; a referee stands front and centre counting down the seconds It’s a more immersive way to start the race compared to previous instalments where this information was displayed over the game, little details like there are something we want to add to every aspect of the game in order to make the experience as exciting and interesting as possible

Cool Runnings

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/0c0732c801e935eb2290ed0e87d2a0d7dc2ddae9.png “And they’re off! Billy takes the lead followed by Heather, Derice just behind with Lucy at the rear, it’s anyone's game so early on. Wait! What’s this? The crowds are cheering Lucy on and she’s pulling out front!” “Derice is now in last place and seems low on energy, how is he going to recover from this? But wait! Derice has just pulled out an apple and he’s regaining his strength, there’s a chance he can win this!” This is what the races are all about. We want everything you do to matter. Having food is essential to keep your duck's energy up, and motivating them helps your duck race ahead. These races are about endurance and skill. Being prepared will ensure you come out on top!

I wanna be the very best

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/150d5e39cb042508f2ec2615b1f8754b9d116238.png It’s not just about running, between you and the goal are obstacles that will challenge your duck's other abilities. This is why we train, people! The races are set on wild terrain. Sometimes it'll be smooth sailing, then BAM - a cliff drops into the ocean. Talk about a quack attack! Don't freak out though - we got your duck's back. The races are beatable for all. If you don’t have flying unlocked then the race won’t require it; however the extent at which you trained your duck in flying (or any other ability) will determine their ability to do that task.

Walking on water

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/f61ec43f7eb2d83de0040da723b7856300e6ab7f.png You might find a wide stretch of water between you and the final prize. Going around is not an option so we’ll have to go through it. These moments can make or break the final outcome, you might have spent ages training running to be the fastest you can but if the other ducks are better swimmers you’ll find that they could overtake you, taking your spot on the podium.

Try not to fall

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/f52f97b9c9485982ebfc5e62545912e17c01772e.png Don’t underestimate the dangers that lie ahead. Falling from a tightrope won’t be the end but you might find yourself on a long and gruelling route to catch up with the others, you still stand a chance but it’ll be tricky to make up the time you’ve lost. We can get into the abilities more at a later date, don’t forget your ducks need to also know how to climb and jump which will be essential for other ways to race!

To the victor goes the spoils

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/edffbe12bb8adcfdf61b5fdee239130cd66c27f2.png At the end of it all is the grandiose celebration, on par with the Olympic Games or the Grand Prix! When your duck crosses that finish line, cue the confetti cannons! Cameras flash as the crowd goes wild, cheering your feathered champion's success. Your hard work paid off big time! Even if your duck doesn't nab first place, keep on training! There's always another race ahead and victory could be yours. Just imagine your duck standing atop that podium, gold medal gleaming! Win or lose, you're all champions in our book. But strap in for the ride of your life as we go for the gold! Heart-pounding action awaits at the ultimate duckathlon. Let's get quackin', racers! Fame and fortune call - it's time to make history! Come back for the next dev log in a weeks time! In the meantime, join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page (wishlisting helps a lot with getting the game featured on Steam when it releases, so please do it if you can!)

Clothes have always been a big part of Duck Life, ever since we introduced hats all the way back in Duck Life 1. In today’s dev log, we’ll be going through how your own duck fashion can elevate your flock, not just in terms of style, but substance as well!

Check out the drip

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/eb2d70bd134138e048b5efd34f00cb7bddf3a54a.png This time around, clothes are more than just for show. You can put them on a duck to give it bonus levels to its skills! Each item of clothing you equip provides its own unique combination of skill benefits. You might want to use them to make up for a particular duck’s shortcomings and turn them into a more rounded racer, or to boost its highest-level skills all the way to the moon! This means that as well as making your ducks look all spangly and catwalk-ready, they also function a little like the weapons and costumes from Duck Life Adventure, which had certain affinities and resistance bonuses tied to them. Don’t worry - your inventory will have more than enough space for you to chop and change your looks between the members of your flock!

These boots were made for racing

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/7103e10c76042303cbfc324a44cd4ea0c1538cb7.png No more chilly flippers for these ducks - just straight style. Now that the ducks have proper webbed feet, we felt it was time to give them some shoes to wear. Duck Life 9 will be the first game in the series where you can adorn your duck’s feet with a slick new fit! With hats, costumes and now shoes, players can now finally rock a complete a full head-to-toe outfit ensemble. Speaking of ensembles, some of these items will be part of a matching set, whereas others will completely standalone designs so you can create a truly unique look! More about this below...

Sharing is caring

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/32aa8a55eacc564c97acbfc3b2ae4aac0be15edf.png Of course, you can acquire clothes from many different sources - shops, race winnings, or even from the jelly coin machine! Above you can see a pretty chilled-out duck modelling the fabulous rabbit outfit, as if he could get any cuter. Should you choose to pair items from a matching set together, you’ll often end up with a duck who is an absolute powerhouse in one or two particular skills. Bunnies are good at jumping, so you can expect to bound ahead in races! If you recruit a new duck to your Flock, they will often bring some clothing with them. Ducks love to share their wardrobe, so you'll be rolling in options before you it! Also, seeing as you’re controlling more than just one duck this time around, you won’t be locked to just one single copy of each costume, hat or shoe. If you want to give the entire flock a single uniform look, then you bet you can try!

Customise the cosmetics

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/66e27d2c1dd48d80cb35a257ab5de49cd72271f0.png Each costume, hat and pair of shoes comes with multiple different colour options. The items that you buy in the shop will usually just have a random colour, but if you’re not feeling it then you can always build a Dye Shop in your flock area to recolour any of your items to your liking - for a small fee, of course. Make your colour palette as complimentary or as hideous as you like, and then when you get bored, do it again!

Create anything your heart desires

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/3a98445f633cd4a5a283ac9bd1bd79311d76b157.png We have many different costume options to choose from, but if that isn’t enough for you then why not make your own? That’s right, we’ve saved the best ‘til last! Unlock the brand new T-Shirt Machine for your flock, and you can draw designs for your own custom T-Shirts! Sketch away and create a painterly masterpiece, or even directly upload a photo to use as the design. The possibilities are literally endless, and once the game comes out next year, we can’t wait to see the crazy outfits you come up with. Come back for the next dev log in 2 weeks time, where we will be looking at the new 3D races and tournaments! In the meantime, join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page (wishlisting helps a lot with getting the game featured on Steam when it releases, so please do it if you can!)

Hello folks, it’s Sam again! This week, get ready for a wild ride as I spill the beans on all the juicy details, the secret sauce, and the magical wizardry that goes into shaping DL9 into an absolute masterpiece! Now I know what you’re thinking - it’s probably something along the lines of “this game should look like the last game, but better!” And hey, you're kinda on the right track (we definitely want it to look better!) but there’s a lot more to consider when you’re pushing the series in a bold new direction. Let’s take a dive into the pre-production stages of The Flock, shall we?

The early bird catches the worm

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/da15a12f498d8da7b2155686bb6c3648d04f1f5f.png As some avid blog-readers may recall from my last post on the dev log, we’ve spoken about how the duck’s design has had to evolve now that they’re all living in this vibrant 3D world. However, there are also several other aspects about the new design that the ducks actually share with the world around them! You may have noticed that Featherhaven Island consists mainly of lush, pastel-y colours, and that some parts of the environment sport some stylish outlines. When it all comes together on-screen, this will hopefully marry every aspect of the visuals together into a design that stays true to the simple, cartoony look of the original games, while also functioning in a 3-dimensional world.

Get out your crayons

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/c29a3e213d2cbfa4d870efb36deb98ac1e43f798.png Next up - the colour palette! This time round, we’ve deliberately gone with a spectrum of colours that maintains some charm and appeal even when the subject matter isn’t quite as pleasant. For example, down below you can see a concept I put together for another area of Featherhaven Island where you learn to hone your balancing skills. One wrong move, and you’ll go hurtling into the poisonous fungi below! Even though this forest of dangerous growths very much dominates the area, I haven’t let that dim the mood of the zone overall, as well want to keep a lovely, chipper tone for your ducks to adventure in.

Prepare for the big time

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/17ef90c5f143013c52be592a6927e4f0d6d49fc4.png Now I’m afraid that we can’t share too many details on this last one, so I’ll have to be careful! Here goes… Time to talk about how the structure and progression of the game affects the design of the areas! By now you’ve seen a fair few of the areas across our beloved Featherhaven Island, the grassy starting area known as The Flock, and others including a blossomy meadow and sun drenched cove. As you work your way through the world of Duck Life 9, the pool of resources available to you will grow more and more as you discover new items that only certain zones can offer. With each new zones, the resources you acquire become increasingly fancy, and that is also reflected in the setting of the zones themselves! Plundering Spring Meadows? You know you’re gonna find some delightful flowers! Harvesting Crystal Desert? You bet you’re gonna be surrounded with sparkly shards! As the settings become increasingly extravagant and the stakes reach dizzying heights, get ready for an absolute visual feast awaiting you on this incredible journey! Come back for the next dev log in 2 weeks time, where we will be revealing some of the new duck outfits and shops. In the meantime, join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page (wishlisting helps a lot with getting the game featured on Steam when it releases, so please do it if you can!)

Before you read this devlog, make sure to watch the new trailer we just released on YouTube! All done? Okay, let’s explain what that was all about!

Duck Life 9: The Flock

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/599116fe0b98f0064da1bf9d5826f94f2238a217.png As I’m sure you know by now, the subtitle for the game is ‘The Flock’. A flock is the name for a group of ducks, and that’s exactly what this game is about. Your journey starts with a lone, daring duck, but by the grand finale, you'll be the proud leader of a full-blown duck dynasty! So how do you gather this quirky crew? Recruit ducks to your flock by beating them in races, or impressing them by helping them out with quests. Every duck is naturally good at different skills, so it’s a good idea to use different ones for different races. Some ducks you recruit will bring items like hats and costumes along with them, which you can then share with other ducks in your flock.

Building the ultimate village

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/b2f465c456cb5b6ecad45baa8b269d2d20fc027a.png With a bustling flock, they need a place to call home. Create a thriving duck village using resources earned from races and training games. From cooking pots to training centres, every aspect can be tailored to your ducks' needs. And let's not forget about the essential duck necessities – somewhere to sleep and yes, even somewhere to poop! Adorn the village with decorations and shops, where ducks can find stylish hats, costumes and more. Just make sure to recruit a suitable shopkeeper first!

Sharing the knowledge

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/2f622c231037b06580d00885f59e22029f0e4074.png You’ll train your ducks one at a time during training games, but ducks are social creatures! In Duck Life 9, they love sharing knowledge. Higher levelled ducks can talk to lower levelled ducks to help them gain XP without even doing any training! Build a stage to give your ducks a platform to teach multiple other ducks at once. You’ll need to enter a group of ducks into the many Featherhaven tournaments so make sure you spread the training knowledge!

Feeding the Flock

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/78b05689fda614bfb9d8dc101658880a78122222.png All that training and racing makes a duck hungry! You can feed your ducks basic seed if you want to simply curb their hunger pangs, but if you want to increase their energy level you’ll have to do better than that. Luckily your ducks are expert farmers, and can grow all the food they need (if you provide them with the right equipment). Take a trip to the fishing beach to catch some tasty morsels for your ducks. Combine ingredients to discover new meals and send those energy levels soaring!

Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/516624ba5baa42dbf4a1db1b73c91fa4f4aa62f0.png Everyone loves upgrades, and here in the Flock almost everything can be upgraded! Want access to more training games? All you need do is upgrade your training centre! Everything, down to the speed at which you chop down trees can be improved, so get saving your resources and set yourself some milestones! With a little hard work, your ducks will soon be the buffed-up lumberjack powerhouses they know they can be!

No planning permission required

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/22d053d8738016bf8d22f2c6af314b56a1c633fb.png Get ready for a splash of excitement that goes beyond just decorations! Curate your flock zone like a conductor crafting a symphony. The way you lay out your buildings and utilities isn't just about looks – it impacts how efficiently jobs get done! Fancy a farm haven? Cultivate a crop paradise that would make any duck proud. Or perhaps you're the mentor of mallards, dedicated to turbocharging newbie ducks into full-feathered pros in record time. So, dip your toes in the pond of possibilities and let your imagination take flight Come back for the next dev log, where we will be discussing the game's new art style in detail. In the meantime, join our Discord channel to keep updated and to join the discussion. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the official Steam page (wishlisting helps a lot with getting the game featured on Steam when it releases, so please do it if you can!)

Hi everyone - my name’s Freddie and I’m a Game Developer at Wix Games. Recently, I’ve been having a lot of fun writing dialogue for Duck Life 9, and I’m looking forward to giving you all a sneak peek into how it’s shaping up. We’ve put a lot of effort into filling Featherhaven Island with fun, engaging characters - let’s see some of them in action!

Speak easy

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/4dc2c37eed1b15bc10937e217a16618624ba22cc.gif For those of you who don’t know what dialogue means: it’s just a fancy word for the conversations you’ll be having with characters you meet in the game. And in Duck Life 9, it’s the best it’s ever been - we’ve given unique personalities to every character on the island, while also retaining the relatable, approachable, and slightly absurd personality of the series. You’ll never quite know what to expect when you start talking to someone! Personally, I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from the Animal Crossing series of games and how well they get across an animal’s character in only a few lines of text. In Duck Life 9, the dialogue is as short and punchy as it can be - it’s something you’ll look forward to, not just something to mash the A button through.

The bird is the word

https://games.wixgames.co.uk/dl9-devlogs/devlog6/devlog-gif-2.gif An important part of Duck Life 9’s dialogue is how interactive it is: the responses you choose to give while talking to other characters will greatly affect how the rest of the conversation goes. To make this possible, we’ve written dialogue that branches off in lots of different directions - this means that you’ll be able to have multiple unique conversations with the same character. https://games.wixgames.co.uk/dl9-devlogs/devlog6/devlog-gif-3.gif In this example, you can either choose to question the legal grey area that Em’s found herself in, or side with her and ask about what’s on the TV. Your choice will take the conversation in one of two drastically different directions - and you’ll have to talk to her twice if you want to see both of them! With this new approach to dialogue, we’ve been able to breathe life into a cast of new characters, as well as some returning faces from previous titles - but more on that another time! We hope you’ll enjoy uncovering all of the possible dialogues for each character and learning more about them along the way.

Quack of all trades

https://games.wixgames.co.uk/dl9-devlogs/devlog6/devlog-gif-4.gif As fun as it is to think of funny things for the ducks to say (and trust me, I’ve been doing a LOT of that!), there are also other things that dialogue can be used for in Game Design. For example, characters can tell you about the area you’re in and help you progress through the game. So, if you’re ever stuck and not sure where to go next, we’ve made sure that there’s always someone nearby you can talk to to help you out. I’ve also been using dialogue to help each area in Featherhaven Island feel rich and vibrant. Many of the ducks will give you some interesting backstory about the area they’re in - so, for long-time fans of the Duck Life universe, there will be plenty for you to sink your teeth into! Some ducks, on the other hand, will have more whimsical, personal stories and opinions to share, but these are just as important as explicit worldbuilding when it comes to making an area feel alive. Our Art team has been working hard to create some awesome-looking environments for this game, and so it’s only right that we do them justice by creating fun, engaging stories for every inch of the island. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/ddb149713f3cfffda828764c4f06e6d7d72bedff.gif Wait… where is that duck, anyway? Is that a new area? That’s going to wrap up this week’s Devlog - I hope that you’ve enjoyed discovering more about Duck Life 9 and maybe even learned a thing or two. If you like what you’re seeing, then feel free to join our Discord server and get stuck into discussion with other fans of the series. We’ve also launched a Steam page for Duck Life 9, so be sure to wishlist it there!

Hi everyone, I’m Alex and I’m one of the programmers at Wix Games. Today we’ll be doing a deep dive into one specific mini game coming to Duck Life 9, Running Beginner Training! In this training game, your duck is faced with a challenging obstacle course, and the aim of the game is to go as far as you can without falling in the water. With our recent upgrade to 3D, we’ve been given a lot more creative freedom to work with, and we currently have 11 unique obstacles and challenges in this mini game, each more different than the last! Each of these sections is generated by the game engine to be slightly random and varied, so that even when you move through multiple instances of the same section, it’ll still present a new challenge. After all my hard work making all of them it’s quite difficult to pick a favourite, but I’ll go through a couple down below to showcase some of the challenges we have in store for your ducks…

Curious Cubes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/13de657aded0d68adbcffc77cfd83c79090bbee2.png Every second or two, these little cubes get interested in their surroundings and attempt to move around. They’ll move in random directions, so be careful not to fall! At higher levels, the puzzle increases in speed and size to become a truly daunting floating maze! A clear path to the other side may not always be possible straight away, so these sections will often require a bit of patience and foresight. Can you make it to the other side, or will you get completely stranded?

Perilous Planks

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/9216fa2fd0827cdf94b95c14569d5f82f1f2e8a1.png Perilous Planks procedurally creates a bridge going all the way from the entrance to the exit of the section, meaning each time you attempt this obstacle it will be a little different - memorising the course won’t help you breeze through this one! The goal of this obstacle is very simple… Don’t fall off!! While this may seem easy to some, the true difficulty comes in when you combine the longer stretches with an overconfident speeding duck! If you are truly gifted in the ways of the running skill, you’ll be able to complete it without stopping or slowing down, but that of course, will come with practice.

Cyclone Crossing

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/17fea3fe9c0788a20ed654920bf88b8ef148c953.png Cyclone Crossing requires you to do battle with the strength of the wind itself in order to stay above the water. With each difficulty increase the strength of the wind grows to almost tornado-like proportions, (you can see where it gets its name) not to mention the fact that the length of the central bridge becomes longer and longer. How far can you get before you’re swept away?

Trapdoor Tumble

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44193778/9c3695f6efe9d3bd37ac187940909bab609306e2.png In Trapdoor Tumble you have two different coloured doors presented to you. Choose wisely, because one of those colours will send you hurtling down into the depths of the water below. Sometimes the red doors will swing open, other times it’ll be the blues… However, there is a method to their madness in the form of a certain sequence, so the keen eyed among you may be able to predict which ones are about be yanked from under your feet. The rest of the challenges will be kept a secret for now, but we’ll tease you with the names of the remaining sections here: Revolving Relay Bounce Blitz Hectic Hammers Swingball Sprint Splashdown Spinner Doughnut Dash River Rush This concludes out fortnightly roundup, so tune in in a couple of week’s time for more. Until then, get involved in the conversation over on our Discord channel to stay updated. We’ll also be posting trailers and updates on our YouTube channel, and if you’d like to wishlist the game you can do so now on the game’s official Steam page