Officially, this game is called Duck Season, but when they ported it to Steam, they added “PC” to its Steam title the version on Steam without “PC” in its name is VR only. They’re both just called Duck Season in the game itself.

Old guys like me know the game this is parodying - Duck Hunt, for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The “Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt” cartridge was the first video game I ever owned and I had the original gray gun controller for it. I spent a lot of time shooting ducks in that game back in my youth!

There are a few differences between this game and the original one. Firstly, this one is a high-def simulation of a kid playing the original Duck Hunt. Secondly, instead of an actual dog, it’s a guy in a dog costume. And finally… this is a horror game!

Strangely enough, I beat the entire game and was surprised that there were no horror elements. Besides a couple slightly weird scenes, nothing out of the ordinary happened. I beat the game, then the kid I was playing as moved on to “Final Fiesta II,” a parody of Final Fantasy II. It was the best ending! I even got tons of food, like I was having a sleepover party with friends! Definitely brought back some nostalgic memories of my childhood in the '80s-'90s.

Then the kid’s mother mentioned that she would’ve shot the dog if she was playing, and it hit me - I actively avoid being cruel in video games! That’s why nothing bad happened; I wasn’t mean to the dog. Oops.

My next playthrough, I accidentally (read: automatically) dialed 911 when I picked up the phone, and I dropped the receiver instead of hanging up, which led to the “Best Men” ending. I was mean to the dog this time, but instead of whatever horrors he would’ve brought to my house, I instead watched a live news coverage of a police helicopter pursuing him through the neighborhood! I guess I need to play through it again and avoid doing anything logical this time if I want my horror ending…

Interestingly, the game opens like a stage production, with backdrops to tell the story leading into the game. Which is an odd way to introduce a nostalgic video game simulator.

Also, the game itself takes you into the TV, where you’re essentially on-stage performing. There are props and boundaries to the stage, and if you turn around, you can see yourself sitting in front of the TV!

I enjoyed the nostalgic toy commercials. Especially with all the blocks that the toys crash through. Very much like old '80s/'90s commercials. Personally, I always wanted those blocks so I could crash my own toys through them! They made it look very appealing for young me.

Here’s an amusing bit of trivia: The hunter guy in the shotgun tutorial video is Sam Gorski - someone I went to high school with! He and his buddy, Niko Pueringer (the guy in white who yells at his mini dude in the game’s Bootloose VHS tape) are the creators of Corridor Digital, and I knew them both when we were teenagers.

I wasn’t super close with them; they were a few grades below me and we had intersecting friend circles. But I’ve been following their CG film career on YouTube for the last 2 decades and I was surprised to see their familiar faces in this game.

Digging into the production details of Duck Season PC, I discovered that the writer/director, Brandon Laatsch, is the younger brother of an old friend of mine from high school!

And he’s not credited, but I’m 99% positive the guy in the “There’s No ‘I’ in Iowa” VHS tape is my high school homecoming king. Small world.