Duck & Cover: 9 Months and Ducks

This article is based on an interview with Oussama Khelifati, the game’s author. And here is his story:

Birth of an Idea at 5 in the Morning

My story begins on a cold winter evening. A friend and I are killing time playing game after game until 5 or 6 in the morning. One game will mark that night: “Mountain Goats.” I keep thinking about it all evening, even as we push forward in our “Pandemic Legacy” campaign. For a while now, I’ve wanted to design a dice game — but without combinations, just apply the result directly. And I have to say, Mountain Goats inspires me to get to the result I’m after.

After that, I decide to grab a deck of Trio cards, place 11 cards in front of me and the same in front of a fictional opponent, roll 2 dice, move the corresponding card… And there it is — the birth of the first card movements that would become Duck & Cover.

For the theme, I go with mountains — Mountain Goats clearly made an impression on me. And to build it, I do what I always do: I make homemade cards with thick paper and grab royalty-free images from the internet. A quick prototype — and as you’ll see, the game would come together very quickly too.

Play, Listen, Modify, Repeat

My recipe for making a game is simple: I get people to play it, I listen, I tweak and I improve. Listening is everything to me. I quickly get Gaëtan Beaujannot to play — he’s my agent. I work with the Forgenext author agency, and they handle everything I need: finding publishers, follow-ups, emails, contract management — while I focus on the creative side of the games, and that’s already plenty enough. 🙂

The result of those tests: it’s fun, but a little flat… So I listen… and 2 weeks later, I rework the end-game mechanic involving the discarded cards — and I’m really, truly happy with that idea. Now I’m sure: the game has been tested, and everyone loves it! Among the many players, Captain Games is particularly enthusiastic and asks to publish it. I say yes, and the adventure begins with them.

They’re the ones who decided to change the theme to ducks. I’m surprised — but why not, let’s be bold. I love penguins, so why not ducks? 😉 Besides, I have full confidence in Cédrick Caumont, the head of Captain Games — if he says it’s a good idea, I know it’s going to be great. And today, I’m very happy with how it turned out!

The Game Grows with Its Players

To playtest the game, there were loads of players — other designers, board game influencers, and even my students, because yes, I’m also a teacher. One of the first to congratulate me was Simon Murat (Le passe temps). His playtest was hugely important and led to adding the rule about the single pile going negative. I also want to acknowledge all the other ideas from so many different people who contributed — in one way or another — to the game’s evolution.

I would have loved to count every single game I played, but after losing track somewhere around a hundred sessions… well, I just couldn’t keep up. And that doesn’t even include the publisher’s games, or my students’ games, or all the other players out there…

As for exchanges with the publisher, the discussions were smooth and easy. The one thing I remember most are the “splashes.” At the bottom of the cards, there are points scored for cards still visible at the end of the game — we could have done it differently, but we eventually agreed on splashes. That gives you an idea of how minor the adjustments were.

In short, the games just kept coming — and in only 9 very eventful months, the game finally poked its beak out into the world…

What Comes Next

Today, more than a year and a half after its release, I still love seeing players discover it, play it, and share it with others. It makes me want to keep going — and speaking of that, I’m working on many other projects, but one was just announced: “Au bonheur des chats / The Happiest Cat In the World.” I spent a lot of time on it with Olivier Cipière, my co-designer — five years of development, to give you an idea. We’re hoping to release it at Essen, so we’ll see you in October 2026 😁

One last word: “Keep believing in your game, keep developing it, keep listening to every bit of feedback from every player — and you’ll end up with something truly great!” Thank you to all the players who keep my game alive, even after all this time!