HELP WANTED!! One of the new arrivals in So Many Ducks is a yellow duck in a retail box, which is the reward for collecting the soda can in the arcade duck's game, Quiet Quest 2. Because it spawns in a static position outside the pool, getting the chameleon duck to touch it has not been an easy task. Please send me a picture (preferably a GIF) if you can get it to happen! With that out of the way...

Thanks ever so much for clicking on my first Steam Guide! This is really just a place I wanted to dump all my observations of the chameleon duck's unique mechanic before I forget them all, while also getting to share them with the world. There's really nothing else for me to put here right now, so let's move on...


This is not a duck styled after a tennis ball (yes, I actually made that mistake) (also the photo I had here previously got snapped out of existence for some reason - too bad, now the joke at the very bottom doesn't work)

To summarize, the chameleon duck can change its appearance into another duck you currently have in the pool when it gets close enough (but only if at least 15 seconds have passed since the last change, unless it's the first change after spawning). You don't need to name it to keep it separate from the original; it's still possible to tell them apart since the chameleon duck retains its unique coarse texture and, if you look really closely, the small, off-center circles representing its original eyes also remain.


Hint: it's the one in the middle

This is the part where I previously had a whole thing where my rubbish Ideapad (named Mr. PotatoTop, for reference) couldn't handle the cooldown timer correctly, complete with speculation that it's because Mr. PotatoTop is weak and wimpy and can only do 28 FPS at best. Since the first version of this guide, I've tried it again and found out that I was, in fact, wrong. As far as I can tell from cheating and looking directly at the game's files, the timer isn't even shortened when there's less ducks in the pool, meaning I am, in fact, going insane. ☹️


An extreme close-up where the eyes are more obvious

Alas, the copying powers of the chameleon are not infallible. If it tries to copy a duck with extra accessories or functions, like the one with the bubble pipe, it can only copy the base appearance (in this case, plain yellow):


Is it a super-secret trick to make the firefighter duck lose its cool hat? No, it's just the chameleon


An easy to see example of not being able to copy added functionality - the light-bulb duck center-right, the chameleon in the center

Furthermore, there are (as of July 2025) at least 38 ducks that the chameleon simply cannot copy at all, and trying results in either the appearance of the basic yellow duck or a complete reversion to the base appearance - I've largely split up the list into the other sections, but the Special and Events groups will generally remain up here unless there's something that needs to be explained about in more detail.

Some extremely crusty GIF images showing this in action (Steam's file size limit for photos tops out at two megabytes, sorry!)

The March 2023 update added three additional ducks as Special spawns at Infinity Cool; of the new arrivals, two of them (the PC duck and computer mouse duck) cause the chameleon to shift into the yellow duck.

The birthday event added three ducks to the Events category (finally justifying the plural!) - of the new arrivals, two (the pinata duck and cake duck) cannot be copied; the yellow duck is used instead. (The repeat in 2024 added a second cake duck, and the 2025 version instead added a cupcake carried by three ducklings; these work the same way as the first one.)

The Rooftop One Percent DLC map added eight(!) Special ducks; of those, four(!!) cannot be copied, those being the bellhop duck, the window washer duck, the businesswoman duck, and the duck with a tie around its head, all of which make the chameleon duck revert to its base appearance.

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After cheating and looking directly at the game's files (it's built on the Unity engine, it really isn't that hard) I can safely conclude that my first guess as to why this is - that the common link is needing to use a different model from the standard one - is completely wrong. As far as I can tell, out of the four ducks that cause the disguise to come completely undone, only the big-headed duck actually needed a separate model, because... well, duh. Everything else is done with normal textures and standard Unity shaders. Except for the wireframe duck, which has no texture at all. (Incidentally, the ducks that cause the chameleon to shift to the yellow duck do use separate models... could that be the cause this time? If so, why change it for these but not, say, the big-headed duck?)

I'm not convinced this information ties up all the loose ends, because it still isn't clear to me why it can't copy the disco ball duck if it has all the same texture types as the cheese duck (it is supposed to be based on cheese, incidentally; even just looking at the log file used to ruin that particular mystery):


If you thought it was based on the moon... sorry, your dreams are now shattered

Only one duck from the Placid Plastic Duck collection (the wireframe duck) cannot be copied - attempting shifts to the original form

The chameleon can copy the original, fake appearance of the duck-looking duck, and keep it once the original's disguise wears off:


Incidentally, I think the mysterious yellowy substance is supposed to be paint...?

Contact with the water shot out by the firefighter duck is sufficient to trigger the copying effect (the same applies to the clown duck from Ducks, Please and the watergun duck from Ducks Galore):


Another crusty GIF of this in action, incidentally revealing that the jet of water doesn't exactly have the most dynamic hitbox

Surprisingly, the dragon duck's fire breath is, in fact, not able to trigger the copy effect:


All hail the Xbox Game Bar, for without its functionality to instantly save the last 30 seconds I would be absolutely screwed in making these crusty GIFs

Another thing to note is that, when copying the deep purple-colored duck (in terms of the game's inner workings it's the "aluminium" duck... do what you will with this information) it cannot copy its particularly extreme glossiness, revealing what the original's color would be without it:


Is it a different model? The answer is no, the original is just that darn reflective

Three ducks from the Ducks, Please collection cannot be copied:

• The disco ball duck
  
• The duck with the big head
  
• The plasma ball duck

Attempting shifts to the original form

Despite appearances suggesting that the egg duck's egg is an accessory, it can be copied because the only part that's actually an accessory is a half-sphere used on the yolk, the coloring for which comes from the base model's texture.


egg 2: yolky boogaloo

After so many revisions, I've finally found out what happens when two chameleon ducks meet: One copies the appearance of the other, whose appearance remains as-is. (After further testing, the evidence appears to suggest that the duck that spawns second copies the first.)



If the chameleon is the first non-propeller duck to fall off the Quacking the Ice mountain, it will return with the appearance of the last duck it copied before the accident:


Just when you thought it was safe to quack...

The chameleon has no special interaction with the gift boxes the ducks spawn in during the Christmas event (originally all of them, with different box colors based on rarity; this was reduced to only the Christmas event ducks for the repeat in 2023, which is how this has worked since) - it doesn't change into either the box's appearance or the duck contained within, nor does it revert to its original appearance. (Well, almost: if a falling box happens to hit it, it'll probably change into the duck inside, but that's probably just a fluke instead of something intentional.)


This screenshot has very little to do with this guide - I just really liked it

These ducks from the Duck Addiction collection cannot be copied:

• The bomb-dispensing duck
  
• The glass bottle duck
  
• The steampunk duck
  
• The ghost duck

Attempting to copy results in the yellow duck
(NB: while the flat pixel duck also causes a shift to the basic yellow duck, its appearance besides being flat and pixelated is otherwise identical so I won't include it in the total for the sheer fact that this one actually makes sense)

The chameleon can successfully copy the appearance of all three of the matryoshka ducks; however, it cannot copy the size of the smaller two (it can, in fact, copy the seam on the bigger two because that feature is baked into the texture):


Don't talk to me or my daughter ever again -a known liar

Copying RoboDuck reveals that, under the cybernetic accessories, it has one fully blue wing and one fully black wing:


That's right, grandma! Two pics for the price of one!!

(While we're on the subject of RoboDuck, the chameleon is actually a special subject of its unique functionality: Should the scanner view lock on to it, the data on the right side of the screen will read "INFO: Shapeshifter" in addition to the usual content there.)

In a similar vein to RoboDuck, copying the knight duck originally revealed some white smudges that, unless you were to try really hard with the camera, could not be seen on the original because they were covered up with accessories - this was eventually cleaned up sometime after the initial run of the birthday event.


Yeah, I named it "Faker"... so what?

Under the same principle as the duck-looking duck, the chameleon can copy the suspender duck's popped bubblegum, and keep it after it's removed from the original:


Some days you get the candy, some days you get the wrapper -Raechel Donahue on the last day of the Cable Music Channel (November 30, 1984)

The bomb-dispensing duck's explosives have no effect on contact, either with the bomb itself or its area of effect.


This might just be the least crusty GIF in the entire guide


Despite only adding the requisite three special ducks, there is one important note here: Prior to the bugfix patch issued on June 14, 2023, attempting to copy the UFO duck resulted in a mangled version of its appearance (no, I still don't know why that was):


A triptych of technical trouble

Following the patch, attempting to copy the UFO now results in the triumphant return of the chameleon's original appearance!



Not so important but still notable is the chameleon duck's interaction with the TV duck: The chameleon shifts into the yellow duck as expected, but it also makes the TV duck angry! (Read all about TV duck here, in a shameless cross promotion)


I hate you so much right now -the TV duck, probably

At least eight ducks from the So Many Ducks collection cannot be copied:

• The arcade duck
  
• The Moka pot duck
  
• All three jelly ducks (and their bigger derivatives)
  
• The piggy bank duck
  
• The hologram duck
  
• The safe duck

Attempting to copy results in the base form - except for the piggy bank duck and safe duck, which results in the yellow duck instead
(NB: The superhero duck is a special case, which I will touch on shortly)

Copying the nerd duck completely exposes a white line on the beak, which presumably acts as a guide for the real thing's teeth. (Unlike other examples you can still clearly see it on the original duck, but you'll need to have the camera uncomfortably close to do it.)


🤓

The strangeness continues, however, for attempting to copy the superhero duck results in the nerd duck again! They technically are the same duck so it does make sense, but still...


An unfortunate bug or a smart feature? You make the call

Copying the snail duck reveals the exact point they stopped drawing the snail's slime trail - notice how it tapers off as opposed to just stopping abruptly:


A comparison shot with the original snail duck

For whatever reason, the attempt at copying the crypto duck leaves out all the intricate detailing around the currency symbol:



While the frog duck can be copied, there's nothing under the eyes (which count as accessories), which leads to a rather unfortunate looking result:



Despite technically having its own bespoke model, the zombie duck can be copied successfully, making it the first such duck to be compatible with the chameleon:


A boring, entirely too long, and possibly even inaccurate explanation you didn't ask for as to how this could be, despite none of the zombie duck's extra features being accessories: The zombie duck's texture sheet follows the same general layout as the other ducks (unlike, say, the UFO duck, who uses a sheet with an entirely different layout to accommodate its unusual shape). What looks like a shadow cast by the hanging eye is actually just painted on, with the chameleon duck's not-hanging eye still being accounted for by another part of the texture sheet; the little worm friend shares the sheet with the rest of the duck, yet isn't visible on the chameleon because it occupies a normally unused section.

Not so fortunate is the pumpkin duck, who was clearly only able to be copied due to a programming error - this wasn't fixed in the following patch, but it was eventually changed to cause a shift to the base form with the patch re-enabling the Christmas event for 2023.




No change for skeleton Grim Reaper duck
No change for yellow vampire duck
No change for wood (now with 400% more nails) duck
Can copy KISS QUACK duck
Can copy lightbulb ghost duck (not to be confused with the one from Duck Addiction)
Can copy "Duck You!" "BOOH!" duck
Can copy (darker) plaid duck
No (perceptible) change for marble duck tombstone duck #2
Can copy black Jason duck

At least these ducks cannot be copied:

• Music box duck
  
• "Puppy eyes" duck
  
• Peacock duck
  
• Octopus duck
  
• Balloon duck
  
• Gumball machine duck
  
• Tamagotchi duck
  
• Neon duck

Attempting results in the base form
If the duck being copied has been drawn on by the doodle duck, the doodle cannot be copied; however, there's nothing stopping the chameleon getting drawn on itself. (The same applies to the ink blots shot out by the octopus duck.)


An example of this phenomenon in action - notice that the doodle is unaffected by the bumpy surface

One of the new arrivals is a clicker duck that changes appearances at certain thresholds of accumulated clicks; most of its skins should work with the chameleon, but the jury is still out on what will happen after it turns into a banana at 9,216 total clicks - one report from the comments of this very guide suggests that it simply uses the previous appearance, but I still have yet to see what happens for myself.

As with previous ducks that can change their own appearance, should it change after contact the chameleon will retain the old appearance of these other ducks:

• Clicker duck (as previously mentioned)
  
• Window duck (the contents of the window change periodically)
  
• Juice duck (it changes what kind of juice it is, based on which of a select few food-themed ducks it has most recently touched)

In a shocking twist, exactly zero of the 15 ducks in this pack work with the chameleon; trying results in the base form. The end.

...okay, so it turns out there is a bit more to this than meets the eye: I cracked open the game's data to figure it out, and it turns out that the ducklings - even the ones shaped the same as the regular-size ducks - all use a bespoke model just for them, with a completely different layout for their texture sheets incompatible with the full-size duck model (and vice versa). The more you know...

There is one more thing I want to touch on here, if only because I've grown too fond of the image caption to just delete the whole passage - when the chameleon passes in front of another duck (relative to the camera, and also including itself) this weird, hard to explain motion blur effect is applied where you can see the outline of the other duck's body (or whichever part of itself it is overlapping relative to the camera):


Wholesale asset recycling - it's not just for game developers anymore

This is not exclusive to the chameleon! A bunch of other ducks also have this effect applied... and since I originally wrote this section I've been informed in the comments that it's actually the result of artifacts from the game's temporal anti-aliasing.

And now this is the part where I desperately beg for likes, comments, whatever the Steam Guide equivalent is to subscribing, and also more awards because, no matter which way you slice it, those Steam Points almost certainly came from real-world money, even though you can't spend them on more games. (Hey, I've gotta practice for YouTube somehow...)


Another scene that would bring Mr. PotatoTop to its knees