Duck X Target

Duck X Target is a digital shooting gallery game developed by independent studio PixelArc Interactive and released in 2023. The game is available on personal computers and select home consoles. The core premise involves a player character positioned at a fixed location, tasked with eliminating a series of animated duck targets that appear and move across a static background environment. The visual style employs a flat, two-dimensional aesthetic with high-contrast colors to distinguish targets from the scenery. The game features a scoring system based on accuracy and speed, with bonus points awarded for consecutive hits and for hitting specific "golden" ducks that appear infrequently. A single-player campaign consists of fifty levels, each with increasing target speed, number of simultaneous targets, and environmental obstacles that partially obscure the line of sight. The game also includes a local two-player competitive mode where each player controls a separate cursor on a split screen.

Gameplay is controlled exclusively through a pointing device, such as a mouse or a controller analog stick, which moves an on-screen crosshair. The player presses a designated fire button to shoot. Each duck target requires one hit to be eliminated, after which it disappears and the player’s score increases. Ducks appear from the edges of the screen and follow predetermined flight paths, which may include sudden changes in direction or speed. The player must track and shoot each duck before it exits the opposite side of the screen; any duck that escapes reduces the player’s remaining lives. The game ends when all lives are lost or when the level timer expires. A heads-up display in the top-left corner shows the current score, remaining lives, and a timer for the current level. The player can pause the game at any time by pressing the Escape key or the Start button on a controller. No additional movement or reload mechanics are present; the sole action is aiming and firing.