A year after the release of Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, Happy Broccoli Games dropped the standalone sequel The Ghost of Glamping, and it’s just as funny and full of twists as the first game!
In The Ghost of Glamping, players follow Detective Eugene McQuacklin on a glamping trip with his roommate Freddy at a haunted campsite. Still reeling from his divorce and bread addiction, he’s not excited about the trip, but his roommate doesn’t really give him a choice, and so begins another 2-3 hour long mystery game!
Instead of peace and quiet, the two are met with eerie happenings, eccentric campers, and a full-blown mystery that pulls Eugene out of his emotional funk and straight back into detective mode. Where The Secret Salami focused on the tangled relationships of an office setting, The Ghost of Glamping takes a completely different approach—it’s a bunch of strangers thrown together in a creepy location with no cell signal and too many secrets.
From broke backpackers to high-maintenance influencers living it up in VIP tents, every character is delightfully weird and well-written. And while Freddy is technically there to meet up with his new girlfriend (yes, Eugene is tragically third-wheeling), the heart of the game is still Eugene—grumpy, sad, a little bread-obsessed, and just as lovable as ever.
The first mystery you must solve is hilariously to find out who Freddy is dating, which of course Eugene is depresso about, but along the way, you learn a lot about the other campgoers.
There’s a mother-son duo, an influencer and their assistant, a kinda creepy guy who seems to just be there for Reasons?, and of course the camp staff. The switch from an office setting to a place where no one really knows each other (at least at first glance) leads to a fun shift in tone and lets Eugene spread his wings, so to speak, in a fresh narrative structure.
The Ghost of Glamping plays similarly to the first: you’ll inspect objects, interview suspects, and collect words to fill in “deducktions” to move the mystery forward. But The Ghost of Glamping adds a few new mechanics like simple codebreaking and handwriting analysis that mix things up just enough to feel fresh. There’s also a hint system if you get stuck, and a cleaner UI that makes it super easy to track what’s new and where you need to go next.
I played through it in about 90 minutes (though I do read fast and had it on story mode) but it never felt like it was missing anything. If anything, it’s just more focused and streamlined, with great pacing and not a single wasted scene or clue. Every moment matters—and yes, you can still knock over trash cans. (Why is that so satisfying??) Don’t forget to check the water sources for an achievement!
One thing I really appreciated is that you don’t need to have played The Secret Salami to enjoy this. It’s totally standalone—like a new episode of your favorite crime show—and while there are returning characters, you won’t be lost if this is your first case with Eugene. The only part that didn’t quite land for me, just like in the first game, is the light touch of worldbuilding around this duck universe’s geopolitical tensions. I want more details because putting together what we learn in this one and the first one together, kind of gives a whole picture? But mostly I’m left wanting a full explanation and why it matters.
Then there’s the cliffhanger ending (no spoilers here) that makes me real concerned. Sure hope we’re getting a third one next year!
You can play Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping today on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and it supports Linux and Mac too! If Happy Broccoli Games keeps making more of these strange and wonderful mysteries, I’ll be first in line every time. Please give me ten more cases. Eugene deserves it.
Images and review copy courtesy of Happy Broccoli Games
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