Project P.I.T.T. proves even rubber ducks can become a Steam hit

A game about feeding rubber ducks into a mysterious corporate abyss sounds like the sort of idea someone comes up with at 2 a.m. and forgets by morning. Somehow, Project P.I.T.T. turned that exact concept into one of August’s more unexpected indie success stories.

Developed largely by solo developer Froke, the project began around a year before release as a small experiment inspired by incremental games and automation. Instead of watching numbers increase on a menu, the idea was to let players physically build the machines responsible for that growth.

The first prototypes actually used boring old spheres. Those rolled too neatly, though, so Froke replaced them with rubber ducks. Suddenly everything became much more entertaining.

Ducks bounce. Ducks get stuck. Ducks refuse to cooperate with your beautifully planned machinery - perfect.

Your job in Project P.I.T.T. is basically to manufacture increasingly ridiculous amounts of stuff and throw it into a giant hole known as the Maw. Fans, magnets, pistons, panels and other gadgets eventually turn the workplace into a wonderfully questionable factory of homemade contraptions.

120,000 wishlists later...

Things escalated quickly before launch. Froke says Project P.I.T.T. reached roughly 120,000 Steam wishlists by the time it released on August 19. Within its first 24 hours, it had already sold more than 22,000 copies.

Five days later, that number had passed 50,000, with the developer reporting more than $400,000 in gross revenue. Not bad for a game whose workforce mostly consists of rubber ducks heading toward an enormous hole. However, launch week also delivered a valuable lesson.

One Phase 3 event dropped debris into the facility, potentially smashing into or blocking automation setups players had spent hours building. Froke’s playtesters had enjoyed the mechanic because it forced them to adapt. The wider Steam audience absolutely did not.

Players quickly complained about having several hours of careful factory construction disrupted without much warning. Instead of defending the idea forever, Froke reacted fast and removed the event just one day after release.

That response has become almost as interesting as the game’s success itself. Project P.I.T.T. may have arrived with a few rough edges, but updates are already addressing building controls, object management, key rebinding and other player complaints.

And underneath all of that sits a genuinely funny physics sandbox where making the perfect duck-delivery machine is far more satisfying than it has any right to be.

If Project P.I.T.T. sounds like your kind of bizarre engineering experiment, make sure to use our price comparison tool to find the best prices for Project P.I.T.T. before throwing yourself — and several thousand rubber ducks — into the Maw.