Hasbro Lucky Ducks Matching Game Review

I saw the Hasbro Lucky Ducks Matching Game at our local Toys R Us store about three years ago.  I thought it would be a great gift from Santa for my three year old son.  It looked cute and seemed to be somewhat educational.  The price was steep at $21.95 but the store was having a buy one game get one half off special so I bought it along with another game.  I now know that even Santa sometimes makes very big mistakes.

The Game

According to the manufacturer, this game features the following:

• Every player is given a duck family, color and shape - pick up the ducks and see which ones match
• Try to remember which ducks are yours when you see other players picking them up
• The first player to find all three ducks from their family wins!
• Contents: 12 plastic ducks, motorized pond and instruction manual

My Experience 

QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! That pretty much sums up the entire game. While the annoying quacking is constantly taking place, these hard plastic ducks are repetitively going around in a very small "pond".  My son was so excited when we first set this up for him. Initially he was interested and learned the concept quickly.  Actually, he learned it too quickly and soon became bored.  After about ten minutes of constant LOUD quacking he started plugging his ears and I was about ready to throw it out the window.  There is no volume control and the only way to stop the quacking (the only sound it makes) is to stop the game.  There is a large button in the middle of the game that you press to stop the quacking and the motorized pond.  It sounds easy enough but once you put the game away, the slightest brush up against the box makes it start quacking all over again.  You can't store it away with other games piled on top and even the vibration from shutting the closet door causes it to Q U A C K !  We spent so much time trying to figure out how to get this game to stop quacking, the fact that educationally it can help a child to learn colors and to take turns was completely forgotten.  We finally took the batteries out and my child just played with the ducks. 

My Final Viewpoint  

Wow, does this game ever need a mechanical overhaul.  The fact that there is no on/off switch for the quacking without turning off the entire game, no volume control and that the slightest vibration will bring you back to quacking hell, I give this awful game a 1 star rating.