Sometimes I want a game with a huge world to explore, a deep story to get lost in and loads of systems to learn. Other times, I just want to pick up a rubber duck and put it on a shelf.
Sort Them Ducks is very much the second kind of game. Developed and published by Mr.Duck, it is a cosy organising game built around one very simple idea: thousands of rubber ducks are scattered around a shop, and they all need putting back where they belong.
That is basically the whole game, and somehow it completely took over my brain for six hours.
Putting Ducks Where They Belong
Sort Them Ducks wastes no time getting started. You load into the shop, see an enormous pile of ducks and begin sorting them onto the correct shelves. Pirates go with pirates, super heroes go with super heroes and food-themed ducks go together.
Most categories are easy enough to understand, although some designs are less obvious. There were plenty of moments where I found myself standing there, staring at a duck and wondering where it was meant to go. Thankfully, the name of each design appears on screen while you are holding it, which usually gives you enough of a clue.
The process itself could not be much simpler. Pick up several ducks, find the right shelf, put them away and repeat. It is incredibly repetitive, but that is also exactly why it works.
There is something deeply satisfying about watching a massive pile slowly disappear while empty shelves begin to fill up around you. It scratches an organising itch in my brain that very few games manage, but more importantly, it lets me completely switch off.
I was not thinking about objectives, combat, complicated systems or trying to keep track of a story. I was putting ducks on shelves, and apparently that was exactly what my brain needed.
Progression Makes Sorting Even Better
There is a little more to Sort Them Ducks than simply carrying ducks around the shop. Sorting them correctly earns money, which can be spent on unlocking and improving a range of skills.
Some upgrades help you find similar ducks, others point you towards the correct shelf, while a few make different parts of the sorting process much faster. There are passive upgrades too, including improvements to how many ducks you can carry at once.
I started out able to hold five ducks. By the end, I could carry 20, and that makes a huge difference when there are thousands of them waiting to be sorted.
This was probably my favourite part of the game. As the pile gets smaller, you also become much more efficient at dealing with what remains. What starts as a slow and fairly manual job gradually becomes faster and more satisfying as your abilities improve.
Watching the shop become organised is rewarding enough on its own, but knowing your upgrades are helping you get there quicker makes the whole process even better.
My playthrough took around six hours, and I never felt like the game had outstayed its welcome. The bigger problem was getting myself to stop playing.
I kept telling myself I would sort a few more ducks before bed. Then I wanted to finish one shelf. Then another. Even when I had to stop playing for work, I just wanted to get home and carry on.
Simple Controls With a Few Annoyances
For the most part, Sort Them Ducks controls well. Movement feels fine, interactions are responsive, and there is very little standing between you and the sorting itself. Turning can feel slightly slow, but it was never enough to become a major problem.
My biggest frustration was the interaction range. Being able to grab ducks from a decent distance is useful when you are dealing with a giant pile, but it becomes less helpful when you are trying to place one neatly on a shelf and the game decides you meant to interact with another duck sitting behind it.
It happened often enough to become annoying, particularly once shelves started filling up and things became more crowded.
Controller instructions could also be clearer. Some early prompts simply told me to press an icon, so I had to experiment a little to work out what the game actually wanted. Keyboard and mouse instructions were much easier to follow.
Once you know the controls, though, there is very little difficulty here. Sort Them Ducks is not trying to challenge you. It just wants you to relax and get organised.
Cute Ducks and Cosy Vibes
Visually, Sort Them Ducks knows exactly what it wants to be. The shop itself is simple and there is not much environmental variety, but the ducks are where most of the personality comes from.
Their designs are adorable, with a huge range of themes and styles. Discovering new ones became part of the fun, and it is clear that plenty of thought has gone into making each group feel distinct.
The interface is equally straightforward. Menus are easy to read, category signs are large and clear, and the name of the duck you are holding appears in the corner of the screen.
There is very little story, but I do not think the game needs one. A bigger narrative would probably get in the way of what makes the experience so relaxing.
You have ducks, they need sorting, so get sorting.
Performance and Audio Need Some Work
I played Sort Them Ducks across PC and a Legion Go 2, and performance was mostly fine. Frame rates could noticeably drop when looking towards areas containing a large number of ducks, though, and changing a few settings only helped so much because the graphics options are fairly limited.
Loading times were quick and I never experienced a crash, but I did run into a few bugs. One duck spawned outside the shop where I could not reach it, although the in-game respawn option fixed the problem. On another occasion, I loaded into the game completely unable to move and had to restart.
The strangest issue happened when switching between my Legion Go 2 and PC. My Steam Cloud save carried over all my unlocked skills but none of the ducks I had already shelved. Resyncing the save and reloading eventually fixed it, but it was a worrying moment after several hours of sorting.
None of these issues ruined the experience, but they were distracting.
The music is another area that could use some attention. A CD player in the shop lets you switch between five backing tracks, all with a cute, jazzy and cosy feel that suits the game perfectly.
Unfortunately, the music is far too quiet compared with the other sound effects. I also spent an embarrassingly long time without realising the CD player existed because the game never really points it out.
The tracks fit the atmosphere well, so better audio balancing would make a real difference.
Final Thoughts
Sort Them Ducks is one of those games where its biggest weakness is also part of its appeal. It is repetitive, and you will spend almost the entire game doing the same basic thing: picking up ducks, finding the right shelves and putting them away.
That never really changes, but for me, that was exactly the point.
It scratched an organising itch, let me completely switch off and gave me something genuinely calming to play after a long day. The progression makes sorting more efficient, the duck designs are adorable, and watching the shop slowly become organised is surprisingly rewarding.
There are rough edges. Performance can dip, I encountered several distracting bugs, controller prompts need improving and the music deserves much better balancing. None of that stopped me wanting to keep playing.
If you need action, combat, constant variety or a strong storyline, Sort Them Ducks probably will not hold your attention for long. For cosy game fans, tired people and chronic overthinkers who need something calm, easy and low-pressure, though, it is incredibly easy to recommend.
Just be careful if you start playing before bed. You might look away from the ducks and realise several hours have disappeared.
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co