Duck Hunt Game

Duck Hunt is the light-gun classic reduced to its purest form: a mouse cursor standing in for the old NES Zapper, a marsh full of ducks, and a dog who never lets you forget a miss. You get three shots per round to bring down your quota of ducks before they clear the screen, and the only real skill involved is tracking a fast, erratic target and firing at the right instant.

What makes it hold up decades later isn't complexity, it's the feedback loop. A clean hit has a satisfying snap to it, the dog trots out with your prize, and the whole thing resets in a couple of seconds so you're straight back into the next round. Miss all three shots and that same dog pops up laughing at you instead, which has annoyed players since 1984 and still works exactly as intended.

Controls

Move the mouse to aim the crosshair and left-click to fire. That's it — no keyboard needed.

Game modes

• Game A — one duck flies out at a time.
• Game B — two ducks fly out together, which forces you to pick a target fast and switch to the second one before it's gone.
• Game C — clay pigeon shooting instead of ducks: two clays launch per turn and you get three shots to knock down both.

Rounds run from 1 up to 99. Ducks fly faster and change direction more sharply the further you get, so the early rounds are really just a warm-up for what comes later.

Tips

• Don't aim right at the duck — lead the shot slightly in the direction it's flying, especially once the speed picks up in later rounds.
• Ducks often head for a top corner before turning. That turn is predictable, so it's usually your best shot.
• In Game B, commit to one duck first instead of splitting your aim between both — a clean single hit beats two rushed misses.

It runs straight in the browser with nothing to install, so it's an easy game to pick up for a quick round or two whenever you've got a couple of minutes.