Duck Side of the Moon is set to land on PlayStation 5 on November 17, giving Sony players access to Starbrew Games’ low-pressure cosmic adventure. The launch coincides with Homegrown, a free update releasing on every platform that expands Doug the duck’s stranded-in-space routine with gardening, a new quest, another area to explore, further characters and broader ways to make his crashed ship feel like home.
The game is already available on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as Nintendo Switch. The PS5 arrival therefore does not stand alone as a simple platform port: it also places new PlayStation players in the game on the same day its existing audience receives a substantial no-cost content addition.
A cozy space adventure without combat or death
Duck Side of the Moon follows Doug, an overworked duck whose spaceship has crashed. Rather than treating that accident as the beginning of a survival combat campaign, the game frames it as an opportunity to slow down. Doug crafts gadgets, improves the wrecked vessel into a more inviting home and gets to know the unusual residents around him. Those locals include talking rocks, an appropriately peculiar detail for a game that puts a duck in a domestic project among the stars.
Most importantly for prospective players, Starbrew Games describes the experience as having no combat and no death. That is more than a tonal label. In practical terms, it tells players that progress is built around exploration, crafting, meeting characters and home improvement rather than fighting enemies or recovering from repeated failures. A player looking for systems to optimize can still find objectives in gadgets and upgrades, but the stated structure does not make reflexes or combat mastery a condition of moving forward.
“Cozy” is often used broadly in games, but the announced features give it a fairly clear meaning here: personal space, customization and activities centered on care rather than conflict. Homegrown leans into that direction by turning a portion of Doug’s ship into a place players can shape over time.
What the Homegrown update adds
Homegrown introduces a new area and a new gardening quest, alongside new characters and places to discover. Gardening itself follows a familiar three-step loop: players can plant, grow and harvest crops. Starbrew Games has not detailed the crops, their growth requirements, or every reward attached to harvesting, so those specifics remain unknown. Still, the basic loop makes gardening a hands-on addition rather than a decorative backdrop.
The update also expands interior customization. Players will be able to gather chromas and use them to customize furniture and walls aboard the spaceship. “Chromas” is the name supplied for the resource or collectible tied to the customization system; no further explanation of where they appear or precisely how they are spent has been provided. What is confirmed is their role: they support visual changes to Doug’s home.
This distinction matters because gardening and ship customization offer complementary reasons to spend time in the new content. Gardening adds a recurring activity with planting and harvesting, while chromas provide a route to personalize the environment. One system is about tending crops; the other is about deciding how the ship looks. Together, they reinforce the idea that the former crash site is becoming a lived-in home.
Related coverage includes Duck Side of the Moon Lands on PS5 With Free Homegrown Update November 17.
- A new explorable area
- A gardening quest
- Gardening with planting, growing and harvesting
- New characters and additional places to explore
- Chromas for furniture and wall customization
- More options to tailor Doug’s spaceship
Starbrew Games designer Joost Rol said the team had wanted to build on the universe after launch and described Homegrown as a way to give players more activities and more control over the ship’s appearance. The gardening theme, Rol noted, is intended to make life among the stars feel less stressful.
When existing players can start Homegrown
Homegrown does not appear to be an immediate opening-game feature. The new material unlocks at around the halfway point of Duck Side of the Moon. That progression requirement is useful context for both returning players and newcomers: starting a fresh save on November 17 will not mean instant access to the gardening quest and expanded customization.
For people who already own the game, there is better news: Homegrown can be reached from existing saves. In other words, players who are already roughly far enough into Doug’s adventure should be able to continue their current progress rather than beginning again. The announcement does not specify an exact story milestone, menu prompt or task that triggers the update content, only that its availability comes around the game’s midpoint.
The update is free on all platforms. That includes the new PS5 version as well as the existing PC and Nintendo Switch releases. No separate paid expansion has been announced, and there is no indication that gardening or the ship-design additions are restricted to a particular storefront or platform.
Why the simultaneous release matters
Launching Homegrown across all versions on the same date gives the PS5 edition a fuller starting package without splitting the game’s feature set by platform. Newcomers on PlayStation will have the update installed in the game’s launch window, while players on PC and Switch receive it as a free continuation of the game they already own.
It also helps clarify the focus of the PS5 version. The announcement does not make claims about platform-specific enhancements, performance modes, controller features or exclusive content. The confirmed reason for attention is the platform’s availability itself, paired with a shared content update that adds more of the game’s defining cozy-life elements. Players should therefore avoid assuming unannounced PS5-specific extras.
For an adjacent look at another PC game built around exploration and animal-centered progression, see The Legend of Khiimori’s expansion into new regions and horse-breeding paths. Duck Side of the Moon’s setting and design priorities are different, but Homegrown similarly shows how an update can deepen a game through a more personal, routine-driven system rather than combat.
Who Homegrown is likely to suit
The update should be especially relevant to players who enjoy making a game space their own. Before Homegrown, Doug’s core setup already involved upgrading a crashed spaceship into a cozy home. Adding customizable furniture and walls makes that goal more expressive: the ship is not just upgraded for function, but altered to reflect the player’s preferred look. The ability to gather chromas connects that aesthetic goal to exploration and play.
Players who prefer clear, gentle tasks may find the gardening quest equally appealing. Planting, waiting for growth and harvesting are easy concepts to understand, even though the announcement does not lay out the complete system. The absence of combat and death means the new activity sits within the same relaxed framework as the wider game rather than becoming a demanding side mode.
For anyone choosing between platforms, the currently confirmed options after November 17 will be PC via Steam or Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5. The update’s all-platform rollout means content parity is the key takeaway from the announcement, not a reason to expect a feature exclusive to one machine.
November 17 at a glance
- Duck Side of the Moon launches on PlayStation 5.
- The free Homegrown update arrives for PC, Nintendo Switch and PS5.
- Homegrown adds gardening, a new gardening quest, a new area, characters and locations.
- Players can collect chromas to customize ship furniture and walls.
- The new content becomes available around the midpoint and works with existing saves.
For Doug, the crashed spaceship has always been more than wreckage waiting to be repaired. With Homegrown, it gains a garden and more room for personal touches. For everyone else, November 17 is the date to watch: PS5 players can begin the adventure, while current players on PC and Switch receive its new domestic space-age chapter for free.
