Today’s Easter eggs cover multiple games, but a singular topic.  Ironically, said topic could even lay eggs.  Because I’m talking about ducks.  Or more specifically, rubber ducks (okay, okay, so I suppose those can’t lay eggs…).  These Duck of Indeed-approved bath toys are cute and silly and can actually be found in a handful of totally unrelated games, a relaxing game about ocean exploration, a goofy horror game, and the Alpha version of a cancelled fangame.  But no matter where these ducks happen to be caught chilling, they’re sure to brighten anyone’s day!

While rubber duckies can normally be found in a bathtub, these first two can be discovered floating about the world’s biggest bathtub of all.  The ocean.  One of these duckies is found in Abzu, a relaxing game (for anyone without thalassophobia) where you swim about the ocean, encounter real-life sea creatures (including extinct ones), and…bring life back to the ocean?  I think.  The plot is a bit unclear.  But that is unimportant.  All that matters is that somewhere…there’s a little rubber duck floating about on the surface of the water, waiting for a new friend to come and say hi.  Or, well, quack.  Because it does quack!  So how does one go about finding a rubber ducky in the middle of the ocean?  Well, around the end of chapter 2, swim upwards to the surface of the water and, after a little bit of searching, you should find a little yellow speck in the distance.  Swim towards that yellow speck, and you will inevitably find…an adorable little quacking duck!  This friendly, little fellow can be found at 12:20 in the video below:

You can also find a less talkative duck in the ocean in a sillier game by the name of Choo-Choo Charles.  Yes, this is the game about the spider train.  And yes, there is a far larger rubber ducky off the coast of the island of Aranearum.  To find this one, go to the fishing cabin located at the northwest corner of the island, then follow the coast to the east.  Provided Charles doesn’t come gobble you up during your seaside stroll, it shouldn’t take you very long to find this goofy ducky floating off the coast.  Staring blankly into your soul…  Honestly, this duck isn’t nearly as cute as Abzu’s, but it’s a duck and that’s good enough for me.  I just wonder who placed that thing out there….  (This duck is at 3:50 in the below video.)

Last of all is a more obscure game, the Unity remake of SCP: Containment Breach.  You may or may not be familiar with the SCP universe (which stands for secure, contain, protect).  Basically, you would NOT want to live in such a world because existing alongside us humans are a plethora of horrifying monsters and cursed objects that the SCP Foundation attempts to lock up for the purposes of research and keeping us civilians safe from these deadly abominations.  While it appears this remake has been discontinued, I did play a few Alpha versions back in 2018 and 2019, and one of my favorite secrets to find were a whole group of creatively-themed rubber duckies.

To start, there was a ghost duck that could levitate and looked as if it was dressed for Halloween.  There was also a more musically inclined duck that would play a few notes on the saxophone.  Let’s not forget the, um…flamingo duck, which is actually pretty self-explanatory.  And of course, Duckiplier, a reference to famous Youtuber Markiplier!  A quick search online also mentions a disco duck and an x-ray duck, which I vaguely remember.  I’m unsure what the x-ray one did, if anything, but I might remember the disco one floating into the air and mimicking the disco ball it was themed after.  There may have also been music…  (Google’s AI is also claiming the existence of other ducks.  As much as I’d love for a supposed “candy corn” duck to exist, I am doubtful…)

I have footage of the aforementioned ducks, but honestly, I can’t remember where in my playthrough to find them, but you guys shouldn’t have any trouble finding screenshots online.  These ducks may have been tiny, but they left a big impact on me.  Finding them throughout the facility was quite a treat.  Because in a game where humanoid monstrosities can phase through walls (which Google AI helpfully informs me is “impossible for humans”) or statues can break your neck if you don’t look at them often enough, a friendly face, and a welcome quack, is exactly what one needs to maintain their sanity in this crazy world of ours.

Banner image by Jason Richard on Unsplash