They called the valley Featherhollow, and the ducks who nested there were different from any others in the world. They remembered things. Not just where the best mud was, or which pond had the fattest beetles — they remembered each other. They formed friendships that lasted lifetimes. They mourned their lost. They taught their young the songs of survival passed down through generations of webbed feet and watchful eyes.
But Featherhollow was not safe. Beyond the fence line, the wilds teemed with predators: cunning foxes, circling hawks, grey wolves, and the great lumbering bears who feared nothing. Every day was a negotiation between the peace of the pond and the shadow of the treeline.
Then came the Farmer.
Nobody knows where the Farmer came from. Some say they were drawn by the golden light that rises from the ponds at dawn. Others say the ducks called out across the hills, a chorus of quacks carried on the wind, reaching someone who would listen. What matters is that the Farmer arrived, looked out across the valley, and said: "I will help them."
That Farmer is you.
Your task is simple and impossibly vast: raise your ducks, protect them from harm, help them grow and learn and form bonds that make them stronger than any one duck could ever be alone. Feed them. Pet them. Build them shelter. And when the predators come — and they will come — pray that your ducks have become something extraordinary.
Because in Featherhollow, every duck has a personality, a history, and a destiny. Some will become heroes. Some will fall. And a rare few will transcend everything you thought a duck could be.
Welcome to DuckSmith™. Your flock is waiting.
When you first arrive at the farm, you'll find a small flock of ducks already wandering the meadow. You begin with $20 coins and 50 feed (plus 4 starter piles of 50 each) — enough to get started, but you'll need to manage your resources carefully.
The farm runs on a day cycle (about 5 real-world minutes per day). Each day passes through five distinct time phases, shown by the icon and label in the top scorecard:
| Phase | Icon | Duration | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dawn | 🌅 | ~37 seconds | The sky brightens as night fades away |
| Morning | ☀️ | ~75 seconds | Full daylight |
| Afternoon | ☀️ | ~75 seconds | Full daylight |
| Evening | 🌅 | ~75 seconds | Darkness begins to fall |
| Night | 🌙 | ~38 seconds | Darkest point before a new dawn |
Each new day brings +25 feed automatically. As days pass, new animals and challenges will appear:
| Day | Event |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Your farm begins with 4 starter feed piles (one per quadrant). Frogs inhabit the ponds. Foxes lurk beyond the fence. |
| Day 2 | A loyal farm dog arrives to help patrol the grounds. |
| Day 3 | Crows appear overhead. Hawks begin hunting from the sky. |
| Day 5 | Wolves start prowling the perimeter. |
| Day 8 | Bears emerge from the deep woods. |
Your core loop as a farmer:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F | Select the Feed tool — scatter feed on the ground |
| P | Select the Pet tool — pet ducks for happiness |
| C | Select the Collect tool — gather eggs and wool |
| Space | Pause / Resume the game |
| Escape | Exit build mode / close panels / cancel placement |
| Alt+A | Toggle the Activity Log panel |
| 1–7 | Select build tile type (when in Build Mode) |
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Left-click (Feed tool) | Scatter 3 feed at the cursor location |
| Left-click (Pet tool) | Pet a duck: +15 happiness, triggers a thought bubble attached to the duck (click × to dismiss) |
| Left-click (Collect tool) | Pick up eggs and wool within range |
| Left-click on a predator | Scare it away |
| Left-click on a crow | Shoo it away for a few seconds |
| Left-click on a duck | Open the Duck Info Panel (any tool except Pet) |
| Double-click on a duck | Rename the duck |
| Right-click on a feed pile | Pick up the pile (refunds remaining feed) |
| Click & drag in Build Mode | Paint tiles continuously |
Displays your vital stats at a glance: duck count, collected eggs, feed stock, wool, coins, and the current day with its time-of-day phase (Dawn, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night). The icon and label update in real time as the day progresses. The feed counter turns red when your supply drops below 10.
Your main toolbar. The top row has quick-access tool buttons (Feed, Pet, Collect). Click More to expand the full panel with the Shop and Controls sections.
A scrolling feed of everything happening on your farm: births, deaths, trait discoveries, predator encounters, and combat results. Toggle it with the tab on the right edge or Alt+A.
Click any duck to open its detailed profile: personality, stats, abilities, traits, relationships with other ducks, and memory count. This is where you get to truly know your flock.
Every duck in DuckSmith™ is a unique individual with its own name, gender, personality, stats, memories, relationships, and potential destiny. Understanding your ducks is the heart of the game.
Ducks are born male (Drakes) or female (Hens) with equal probability. Drakes have distinctive green heads with a white collar ring and a curled tail feather. Hens have warm brown mottled plumage. Breeding requires one of each — unless a duck has discovered science (see Traits).
Each duck is born with one of five innate personalities that shape its behavior for life — including what they like to explore:
| Personality | Behaviour | Explores | Quirks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friendly | Builds relationships 1.5× faster | The dog, sheep, frogs | Can have up to 3 best friends. Naturally sociable. |
| Loner | Builds relationships at half speed | Distant corners, paths | Happiness decays faster. Only 1 best friend max. Seeks solitude far from the crowd. |
| Dramatic | Double penalty from negative social events | Flowers, sheep | 10% chance per second of a random mood swing. Life is a stage. |
| Chill | Half penalty from negative events | Flowers, frogs, paths | Nothing really bothers a chill duck. Steady and calm. |
| Greedy | Gets hungry twice as fast | Hay bales | Eats 2× faster from piles, seeks food earlier, and lays eggs 30% faster. Lives to eat. |
Every duck (and every creature on the farm) has six core stats inspired by classic RPG attributes. Stats grow through experience — surviving predators, making friends, learning from frogs, and more.
Stats grow with diminishing returns at higher levels. A duck who survives many predator attacks will develop impressive Grit and Instinct; one who is frequently petted and breeds often will have high Charm.
Ducks form relationships with each other on a scale from -10 (bitter rivals) to +30 (inseparable best friends). Relationships develop naturally as ducks spend time near each other, share experiences, and survive hardships together.
| Score | Label | Visual |
|---|---|---|
| ≤ -5 | Rivals | Dashed red line |
| 0–14 | Strangers / Acquaintances | No line |
| 15–19 | Friends | Thin yellow line |
| 20–24 | Good Friends | Medium green line |
| 25+ | Best Friends (BFF) | Thick pink line |
Toggle relationship lines on the map with the Lines ON/OFF button to visualize your flock's social web. Relationships grow from proximity, shared unit membership (+0.3/s), shared trauma (+3 per event), breeding (+10), and knowledge sharing (+5).
Ducks don't just wander randomly — they have internal motivation to explore interesting things on the farm. When a duck decides to explore, a gold ? appears above its head as it sets off toward its destination.
What a duck is drawn to depends on its personality (see the table above). Friendly ducks gravitate toward the farm dog and sheep, loners seek out distant corners away from the crowd, dramatic ducks are drawn to flowers, and greedy ducks make a beeline for hay bales.
A duck's Wit stat influences both how often it explores (~17–35% of movement decisions) and how far it can see interesting targets (4–9 tiles). The remaining time is spent in the normal routine of wandering, swimming, and idling — so ducks still naturally regroup into units between explorations.
Every significant event in a duck's life is recorded as a memory. Memories are the building blocks of growth — accumulate enough of the right kind, and your duck will develop powerful traits (see next chapter). Ducks can hold up to 20 memories.
Memory types include: surviving predators, losing friends, unit victories, breeding, growing up, being petted, being fed, learning from frogs, finding remains, avenging friends, building things, and more.
| Memories | Tier | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | Newborn | Simple phrases, basic instincts |
| 3–7 | Young | Developing personality, more expressive |
| 8–14 | Experienced | Wise phrases, confident behaviour |
| 15+ | Wise | Deep thoughts, can auto-build structures, teaches others |
When two adult ducks spend time near each other (within 3 tiles), there's a chance the more experienced duck will teach the other. Ducks can share memories of predator survival and unit victories. Both ducks gain +5 to their relationship from the exchange. A duck's Wit stat determines how effective it is as a teacher.
Every adult duck is born with (or grows into) one innate ability that defines its role on the farm. Baby ducks receive their ability when they mature.
| Ability | Symbol | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Guardian | G | Counts as 2 ducks in unit formation. The backbone of your defense. |
| Speedster | S | Moves at 1.8× speed. Can dodge predator attacks with a chance to auto-flee. |
| Brave | B | Never flees from predators. +0.5 bonus to unit power. |
| Leader | L | Extends unit formation radius by +2 tiles. Rallies nearby ducks when predators approach. |
| Laser | Z | VERY RARE (2% chance). Fires laser beams at predators. One-shot kill on land predators. Can damage the Pond Shark. See below. |
The rarest and most powerful ability. Laser ducks charge for 1.5 seconds, then fire a devastating beam that destroys any predator instantly. They can also damage the Pond Shark (3 hits to kill).
After friendly fire incidents, the laser duck suffers massive guilt: happiness drops, cooldown extends dramatically, and witnesses lose trust. Repeated incidents can lead to the haunted trait.
Traits are earned through accumulated life experience. Unlike abilities (which are innate), traits are unlocked when a duck has gathered enough specific memories. Traits permanently modify a duck's behaviour.
| Trait | Unlock Requirements | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Courageous | Survive 3 predator encounters | Increased bravery in the face of danger |
| Social | 2 unit victories + 1 breeding | Thrives in groups, strong team player |
| Cautious | Lose 2 friends to predators | Flees from danger more readily, avoids remains |
| Loved | Be petted 5 times | High baseline happiness, bonds with the farmer |
| Wise | Learn from frogs 3 times + grow up | Can auto-build fences, plant flowers, and gather hay |
| Nurturing | Breed 2 times | Natural parent, wise+nurturing ducks prefer planting flowers |
| Vengeful | Lose 3 friends + survive 2 attacks | Forms revenge packs to actively hunt predators |
| Popular | 1 breeding + 1 unit victory + 3 pettings | Well-known throughout the flock |
| Scientist | Learn from frogs 5 times + grow up | Wears tiny glasses. Enables same-gender breeding! |
| Careful | Cause 2 friendly fire incidents | Learned caution with laser (laser ducks only) |
| Haunted | 3 friendly fires + witness 2 friendly fires | Deeply traumatised by laser incidents |
| Omnivore | Eat 1 predator remains | Slight red tint, small fangs. The first taste. |
| Carnivore | Eat 3 predator remains | Full goth transformation. Will hunt other ducks. See Special Events. |
| Legendary | 5 survivals + 4 victories + 3 losses + 5 pettings + 2 breedings + 3 learnings + 1 growing up | Golden crown, 1.5× size, 1.5× speed, can't flee, halved decay. The pinnacle of duck evolution. |
Two ducks will breed when all of these conditions are met:
When breeding occurs, a baby duck appears at the midpoint between the parents. Both parents gain a 90–150 second cooldown before they can breed again, and their relationship increases by +10.
Babies start at roughly half the size of an adult and grow over about 60 seconds. During this time they are vulnerable — they have no ability and no hat. They eat from feed piles at a reduced rate.
When a baby matures into an adult:
Arrives on Day 2. Your loyal protector. The dog patrols a route around the four corners of the farm, and when it detects a predator, it charges at nearly double speed to scare it away. The dog also passively boosts the happiness of nearby ducks.
Personalities: Loyal (builds duck relationships 2× faster while chasing), Lazy (slower but double happiness aura, rests more), or Hyperactive (fastest, barely rests, barks twice as much).
The dog builds relationships with nearby ducks during chases. It can scare foxes reliably and sometimes intimidate wolves, but bears are usually too tough for the dog alone. When the dog scares off a predator, you earn +15 feed and +$10.
Present from Day 1, sitting on lily pads in the ponds. Frogs are the wisest creatures on the farm. When a duck wanders close to a frog, the frog shares its ancient knowledge, granting the duck a "Learned from Friend" memory.
Personalities: Wise (teaches twice as often), Grumpy (flavour text only), or Playful (hops around more actively).
Purchasable for $15. Sheep graze peacefully and produce wool every 2 minutes. They move in herds and avoid water. But don't let their fluffy exterior fool you — sheep are warriors.
Sheep will charge foxes and wolves with devastating kung-fu kicks, building up combos for increasing damage. They cannot fight bears or hawks. Timid sheep produce wool 20% faster. Stubborn sheep deal 25% more kick damage. When a sheep defeats a predator, you earn +20 feed and +$20.
Ducks standing near sheep have a 50% chance of being overlooked by predators. A living shield of wool.
Appear on Day 3. Crows are a double-edged sword. They serve as an early warning system, detecting predators at extreme range and warning your ducks to flee. However, they also steal from your feed piles.
Personalities: Mischievous (steals at double range and double rate), Shy (smaller particle eating range), or Alert (standard). Click a crow to shoo it away temporarily.
Predators spawn from the edges of the map at increasing rates as days progress. Each type requires a certain level of duck unit power to repel.
The first and most common threat. Quick and cunning, but relatively weak. Your farm dog can handle foxes alone, and even a small duck unit of 3 can repel them.
Attacks from the sky. Hawks ignore fences and water — they fly over everything. Fast and difficult to intercept, requiring a strong unit to repel.
Faster and tougher than foxes, wolves require a solid defensive line. They path around water and fences like foxes, but hit harder in unit combat.
The apex land predator. Slow but terrifyingly tough with massive HP. Requires a large, powerful unit to defeat. Even the farm dog struggles to intimidate a bear. Sheep refuse to fight them.
Any predator has a 10% chance of spawning as an Alpha variant — larger, tougher, and requiring more ducks to repel. Alpha predators gain +3 grit, +2 pluck, +1 to their unit requirement, and 1.5× HP.
Predators grow stronger over time. Each predator gains +0.1 to all stats for each day that has passed since the game began, up to a +5 bonus. Spawn intervals also decrease as days progress, meaning attacks become more frequent.
When your flock grows to 20+ ducks, something stirs in the deep water. The Pond Shark is the most dangerous predator in Featherhollow — a mass-killing ambush predator that hunts from beneath the ponds.
The shark cycles through five phases:
Defences against the shark:
The ultimate test. When your ducks, dog, or sheep have repelled or defeated 10 consecutive predators, your success draws the attention of something ancient. A pack of three velociraptors charges onto the farm in V-formation.
Raptors cannot be scared, clicked, damaged, or stopped by any means. They hunt independently, targeting adult ducks on land. Each raptor can kill multiple ducks depending on your flock size.
There are two variants:
| Variant | Trigger | Speed | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Dog scare at 10th streak | 2.0 | Normal |
| Elite | Unit scare at 10th streak | 2.5 | 60% larger |
When 3 or more adult ducks cluster within 3 tiles of each other on land, they automatically form a unit. Units are your primary defence against predators.
When a predator enters a unit's zone, HP-drain combat begins:
When 2 or more ducks with the vengeful or legendary trait gather near a predator (within 3 tiles), they form an impromptu revenge pack. If their combined power meets the requirement, they deal power × 3 damage per second. On a kill, they earn the "Avenged Friend" memory.
Sheep are surprisingly fierce fighters. When a sheep detects a fox or wolf within 5 tiles, it charges with a battle cry and unleashes kung-fu kicks.
| Mechanic | Detail |
|---|---|
| Kick damage | 8 base + Grit bonus + combo bonus |
| Kick cooldown | 0.8 seconds |
| Combo | Builds up to ×5, adding +2 damage per consecutive hit |
| HP recovery | +3 HP/s when not fighting |
| Retreat | At 5 HP remaining, sheep retreats for 15 seconds |
| Stubborn bonus | +25% kick damage |
Laser ducks are the only way to permanently kill the Pond Shark. Each laser hit deals 1 damage (shark has 3 HP). After dying, the shark respawns after 15–25 minutes. Laser ducks target the shark at 8-tile range (further than their 6-tile range for land predators).
You start with $20 (default). Earn more by selling eggs and wool, or by having your duck units destroy predators.
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sell eggs | $3 per egg |
| Sell wool | $3 per wool |
| Destroy Fox | $5 |
| Destroy Hawk | $8 |
| Destroy Wolf | $12 |
| Destroy Bear | $20 |
| Item | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 🦆 Buy Duck | $10 | A new adult duck joins the farm |
| 🌾 Buy Feed | $5 | +20 feed added to your stock |
| 🐑 Buy Sheep | $15 | A sheep joins the farm (produces wool, fights predators) |
Shop buttons are greyed out when you can't afford the item.
Feed is your most critical resource. Without it, ducks go hungry, their happiness drops, and they stop laying eggs or breeding.
Click anywhere on the map to scatter 3 feed. Creates small piles that ducks rush toward. Great for luring ducks to safety or drawing them together to form units. Scatter piles feel 30% closer to hungry ducks, making them attractive.
Place permanent feed stations using Build Mode (key 7) for 5–25 feed per click, or use the Add Feed Pile button for a full 75-feed pile in one action. Maximum 10 piles on the map, each holding up to 75 feed. Right-click to pick up a pile and reclaim the remaining feed.
Adult ducks with happiness above 30 and hunger below 80 lay eggs every 200–400 seconds (~3–7 minutes). Greedy ducks lay 30% faster. Use the Collect tool (C) to gather eggs within range, then sell them for $3 each.
Sheep produce wool every 120 seconds (timid sheep: every 96 seconds). Collect it with the Collect tool and sell for $3 each.
Enter Build Mode from the Controls section of the bottom bar. A palette of 7 tile types appears. Select a tile with keys 1–7 or by clicking the palette buttons (hover for descriptions). Click or click-and-drag to paint tiles. Press Escape to exit.
| Key | Tile | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grass | Basic terrain. Ducks wander and graze here. The foundation of your farm. |
| 2 | Water | Creates pond tiles. Ducks can swim here. Ground predators and raptors avoid water. Strategic safety zones. |
| 3 | Path | Dirt path. Loner and chill ducks are drawn to explore along paths. |
| 4 | Fence | Blocks ground predator movement. Hawks fly over them. Use to create chokepoints and safe zones. |
| 5 | Flowers | Ducks on or adjacent to flowers gain a steady happiness boost (scaled by Charm). Ducks are naturally drawn to explore flower tiles. Plant them along paths and near gathering points. |
| 6 | Hay | Hay bales that wise ducks can gather for +5 feed. A renewable feed source. |
| 7 | Feed Pile | Places a feed pile (5–25 feed per click). Click existing piles to top them up to 75 max. |
You cannot build on the map border (the outer two rows/columns). The border fence is permanent.
For quick feed pile placement without entering Build Mode, use the 🌾 Add Feed Pile button in the Controls section. This costs 75 feed and places a completely full pile with a single click on the map. Press Escape to cancel placement.
The rarest achievement in DuckSmith™. A duck that accumulates enough varied memories across all aspects of farm life — survival, combat, love, loss, learning, and the farmer's touch — becomes Legendary.
When a hungry duck eats predator remains, it begins a dark transformation:
A duck who learns from frogs 5 times and has a "Grew Up" memory develops the scientist trait. These bespectacled intellectuals break the rules of nature: they can breed with ducks of the same gender. The activity log records these events as "Science!"
Ducks with the wise trait and 10+ memories will occasionally build things on their own — planting flowers to brighten the farm, constructing fences for defence, or gathering hay for feed. They become autonomous farm hands.
The laser ability is powerful but dangerous. Ducks caught in the beam's path are vaporized. High-Wit laser ducks (Wit ≥ 5) will check for friendlies before firing and hold their shot if allies are in the way. After friendly fire, the shooter suffers guilt, and witnesses lose trust in them. Repeated incidents lead to the careful and eventually haunted traits.
After a shark attack, the pond water turns crimson for 15 seconds. Carnivore ducks swimming in bloody water can slowly nourish themselves, reducing their hunger. A grim detail of the circle of life in Featherhollow.
When ducks encounter the remains of fallen friends, they react based on personality: friends mourn deeply, cautious ducks flee, and courageous ducks approach with determination. Finding remains grants a "Found Remains" memory. Starving ducks (hunger > 70) may eat duck remains in desperation, losing happiness and the respect of witnesses.