How Many Dudes Does It Take to Beat 1 Horse-Sized Duck and 75 Duck-Sized Horses? This Game Answers Your Dumb Questions

Why It Matters

The game demonstrates how indie developers can leverage humor and cross‑platform support to stand out in a crowded auto‑battler space, potentially attracting both casual and hardcore audiences.

Key Takeaways

• Auto‑battler roguelike blends humor with strategic depth
• Developed by Butterscotch Shenanigans, known for Crashlands
• Steam demo runs smoothly on Proton 10/Linux
• Features absurd enemy combos like duck‑sized horses
• Synergy system can break game balance if exploited

Pulse Analysis

The auto‑battler genre has evolved from niche tabletop simulations to mainstream digital experiences, and How Many Dudes? exemplifies this shift with a tongue‑in‑cheek premise that still demands tactical planning. By marrying meme‑driven humor with the procedural challenge of roguelikes, the title taps into a growing appetite for games that are both instantly entertaining and rewarding over multiple sessions. This hybrid approach helps indie studios differentiate themselves without relying on massive budgets or high‑end graphics.

Gameplay revolves around assembling a diverse squad of “dudes,” each equipped with unique abilities that can be combined for powerful synergies. Players also gather relics and consumables, adding a layer of customization that deepens strategic options. The absurd enemy roster—ranging from dog‑sized rats to duck‑sized horses—keeps encounters fresh, while the auto‑battle system allows players to focus on team composition rather than micromanagement. The Steam demo’s flawless performance on Proton 10 underscores the developers’ dedication to Linux compatibility, a market segment often overlooked by larger publishers.

From a business perspective, How Many Dudes? illustrates how cross‑platform support and community‑driven humor can broaden a game’s reach. Linux compatibility opens doors to a passionate, underserved audience, while the meme‑centric branding fuels organic social media buzz. If the developers continue to expand content and refine balance, the title could evolve from a novelty demo into a sustainable revenue stream through DLC, cosmetics, or a full release, reinforcing the viability of quirky, low‑budget indie projects in today’s competitive market.

How Many Dudes does it take to beat 1 horse-sized duck and 75 duck-sized horses? This game answers your dumb questions

By Liam Dawe · 12 Feb 2026 at 1:04 pm UTC

If you love games that are a bit on the stupid side, the auto‑battling roguelike How Many Dudes? may answer a few of your dumbest questions.

You've no doubt heard various internet jokes and seen the memes about how many dudes does it take to do something, well this game took that basic idea and turned it into a blood‑soaked auto‑battling mess where you go through rounds of increasingly absurd odds. Created by Butterscotch Shenanigans, a name you might know from the likes of the positively rated Crashlands and Levelhead.

You start off with your basic dude, and fight off various different animals (and toddlers, so many toddlers) and gradually recruit more different types of dudes to fight for you in the arena. While also building up a list of powerful relics to give your dudes bonuses, and some consumables to help you during the fight. If you liked the basic idea of Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, turned into an auto‑battler this might be one for you.

During the battles you'll face off against hundreds of toddlers, dog‑sized rats, bees, duck‑sized horses, honey badgers, leopards, goats and of course a gorilla. It just keeps adding more and more ridiculous battles, as you build up your crazy army of dudes. Your dudes all have different abilities too, so you can end up creating some powerful synergies that the developers claim can end up breaking the game.

Check out the trailer:

YouTube video (requires cookies to view)

It's incredibly silly, and a game that just sort‑of allows your mind to zone‑out for a while as you watch all the chaos of the battles unfold. The demo was quite a lot of fun.

A demo is live on Steam right now and it works perfectly with Proton 10.

How Many Dudes? – Platform: ⚛ Proton / Wine

Official link: Steam