One of the most rewarding parts of developing Always Bet on Quack has been seeing it become more than just a game project. It’s also become a real teaching tool.
Sam and Tyler both use the game directly in their college courses at Bristol Community College, giving students a chance to see how a real multiplayer game is built from the ground up. Because the project is actively in development, students aren’t just learning theory, they’re getting to see and experience real production pipelines, real assets, and real design problems.
In Intro to Game Design courses, Always Bet on Quack is used to break down nearly every aspect of development. Students can study level design, UI, game feel, multiplayer systems, progression loops, sound design, player psychology, marketing, and more through a project that is actively being built in real time.
In Sam’s 3D modeling classes, students get hands on experience creating costumes and cosmetic items using the actual duck character from the game. Instead of building projects that disappear into a folder at the end of the semester, students work with production ready models and learn the same kinds of workflows used in professional development.
That approach has already helped create incredible opportunities for students. One of those students, Jillian, impressed the team so much through her classroom work that she went on to begin an internship directly with Dogwood Gaming and contribute to Always Bet on Quack itself.
For us, this project has always been about more than making a casino game with ducks. Getting to include students who are hungry to learn more has been an absolute pleasure and made making this game a much better experience. In Massachusetts, community college is free, so many students who no longer have the barrier of a paid tuition are getting the chance to work on games . We work with really incredible future developers who we hope we can keep working with even beyond this project!
If you’d like to follow along and support development, wishlisting the game on Steam is the best way to stay informed and help us reach more people! If you’d like to stay in touch with us directly, please feel free to join our Discord: