Build a Duck

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LEGO Build a Duck
The game's logo, showing the LEGO logo, the text "build a duck", and an animation of bricks assembling into a duck
Logo and animated icon
Developer(s)SPU-Darwin
Publisher(s)The LEGO Group
Programmer(s)Paul Krough[1]
Artist(s)Simon Tschachtli[2]
EngineJava
Platform(s)Web browser
Release2 January 1997
Genre(s)Sandbox
Mode(s)Single-player

Build a Duck was a web game developed by SPU-Darwin and published to LEGO.com in January 1997. The game was a digital version of the duck polybag from 1985 (set 1551). It was launched with a raffle players could enter to win a LEGO set. It was the LEGO Group's third web game and second online contest.

The game was not archived on the Wayback Machine and is currently lost media.

Gameplay and contest

A duck created by Paul Flavin[3]

The Build a Duck game featured an isometric view and encouraged players to assemble a small assortment of LEGO bricks into a duck placed on a baseplate.[2][4] The bricks available to build with were the same as in set 1551: one yellow 2×4 brick, one yellow 1×2 brick, two yellow 2×2 bricks—one of which had eyes on it—and two red 2×3 plates. The game was a Java applet and required a web browser that supported Java to play.[3][5]

The contest asked players to build five different ducks, each using all available bricks. Players could submit their ducks, along with their name and email address, to enter a weekly lottery for a chance to win the LEGO Technic Nautilus with CD-ROM set (8299).[6][5]

History

The contest was revealed on the LEGO World Wide Web Site on 27 December 1996.[7] The Build a Duck game went live on 2 January 1997.[5] A few weeks after its launch, a page was created to list the game's weekly (later monthly) lottery winners (as well as the winners of the 1996 Interactive Advent Calendar).[8][9] Later into the game's life, some winners were allegedly sent US$100 gift cards instead of the submarine set.[10]

Build a Duck was featured on Yahooligans! as one of its "Cool Links" on 15 August 1997. By then there had been nearly 11,000 entries in the contest.[11][12] The game was taken offline in March 1998.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Tschachtli, Simon. "Portfolio". Atelier Tschachtli. Archived from the original on 2004-07-19.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tschachtli, Simon (26 January 2018). "CV Simon Tschachtli" (PDF). Atelier Tschachtli. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-07-12. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Flavin, Paul (22 March 1997). "Interactive Imaging; An Introduction to Raytracing & CGI with Java". Imaging the Imagined: Raytracing tips from da Vinci & me. Archived from the original on 1998-12-02.
  4. ↑ Gerald Chu (12 February 1997). "3D Lego Modeling programs?". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 2025-05-20. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Introduction to Build a duck". LEGO World Wide Web. 2 January 1997. Archived from the original on 1997-01-10.
  6. ↑ Bigham, Vicki Smith; Bigham, George (1998). "Mostly for Kids". The Prentice Hall Directory of Online Education Resources. Paramus, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. p. 258. ISBN 0-13-618588-6.
  7. ↑ Geoff Cole (27 December 1996). "Can you build a duck?". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 2025-05-20. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
  8. ↑ "LEGO Internet Games Winners!!". LEGO World Wide Web. 2 June 1997. Archived from the original on 15 June 1997.
  9. ↑ Steve Bliss (31 January 1997). "Advent Winners". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  10. ↑ Ed Wensell III (3 December 1997). "Re: Gone again???". Newsgroup: tn.talk. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  11. ↑ Kusumoto, Laura (27 August 1997). "Pin the award on the Duck". Galapagos Times. Vol. 1, no. 2. Billund, Denmark: SPU-Darwin. Archived from the original on 12 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
  12. ↑ "Cool Page". Yahooligans!. 15 August 1997. Archived from the original on 11 November 1999.
  13. ↑ Flavin, Paul (17 March 1998). "Lego's "Build A Duck" web page Java Applet... flew the coup..." Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: 01bd51cc$89f428e0$f58582d1@imaging. Archived from the original on 2025-05-20. Retrieved 2025-05-20.

External links

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