Duck Hunt is a classic light gun shooter video game

In Duck Hunt, players shoot ducks that appear on screen. Ducks appear either one or two at a time, and players have three shots to take them down before they fly away. Points are awarded for each duck successfully hit. If the player shoots the required number of ducks in a round, they advance to the next level; otherwise, it's game over.

The game becomes more challenging as players progress to higher rounds; targets move faster and the minimum number of ducks to hit increases. Players earn points for every target hit and receive bonus points for clearing all ten targets in a single round. Duck Hunt tracks the player's highest score during a single session, but this score is lost when the game is turned off.