Cursed to Golf from Chuhai Labs and Thunderful Games is a golf-like adventure game in which you are cursed to golf… forever! Will you be able to save yourself from golf purgatory? Check our Cursed to Golf review!
Cursed to Golf is a golf-like adventure where every shot counts. Players are tasked with making it out of Golf Purgatory to become a Golfing Legend. With insane hazards, otherworldly power-ups, and tons of replayability, will you make it back alive, or will you forever be… Cursed to Golf!?
Cursed to Golf from Chuhai Labs and Thunderful Games is a golf-like adventure game in which you are cursed to golf… forever! You’re a legendary player in the final round of the 18th hole of the Eternal Golf Championship. As you are playing through the hole – and going through an easy-to-follow tutorial – thunder strikes you… and that’s it! You are now dead and find yourself in Golf Purgatory. There, you’ll learn that if you can get through all 18 holes of the unique golf course there, you’ll be able to ascend back to life. Are you up for the challenge?
Basically, this golf game will put you on strange golf holes, and you’ll have to finish them within the allowed number of strokes, so as the game’s description mentions, “every shot counts.” Luckily, there are different perks that can increase that number, such as hitting statues within the courses that will net you 2 or 4 extra shots depending on the statue’s color. Do you have zero shots left at the 7th golf hole? Then you’ll be sent back to the first hole! Yep, this game has a roguelike twist, which means that failing a single course will bring you back to the beginning, but with some perks cards kept in your arsenal.
I liked how the golf gameplay was kept to an arcade-style nature with only three golf clubs available: a Driver that will allow your ball to fly further, an Iron that will still allow your ball to go far but with a more precise shot, and a Wedge that will allow your ball to go upward with ease in tight situations. Once your golf club is selected, then you have to select the force for your shot by selecting from a gauge. After this, you must select the angle at which the ball will fly. It’s really easy to get the hang of!
Each golf hole out of the 18th is non-linear and has multiple paths that can be taken in order to reach the flagstick for the hole. The levels are also huge, so you’ll need to scout the area around you to determine the best path. There are many ways for you to take on each hole, so you can spend 10-15 minutes on each one as you take on some classic trial and error. For instance, you could use a shortcut that would cut 2-3 shots for that hole, but you could miss out on hitting a statue that would grant you four extra strokes, so you always need to think ahead.
Between each golf hole, you’ll have a map allowing you to select one of two paths to reach the next course. You can often go straight to it or use the other path that has a harder version of the hole, but also a shop that you can use to purchase some cards. Cards have a series of effects ranging from splitting your ball in three, exploding TNT crates that can be used to create shortcuts, and more. They are also kept when your character dies, so you can begin a new round with better power-ups. Thanks to this, you’ll be making some progress with every run.
On the difficulty side of things, I must admit that this isn’t an easy game. With its roguelike gameplay mechanics, you’ll have to play a bunch of rounds before being able to progress further in the game as you aim to reach the 18th hole. One thing I do have to mention is that while the game is certainly challenging, it’s also fair. When I missed a shot, I could always blame myself for it. When I ran out of strokes during my first run, I understood it was part of the gameplay cycle, as I learned new tricks and gained access to new cards that made subsequent runs easier to handle.
On the presentation side, this one is nearly perfect. The game runs smoothly, and everything is drawn with care in a pixelated style. The soundtrack from Mark Sparling is also really catchy and is a blast to listen to. My favorite so far is gRave on the Green – the level 3 BGM. If you really enjoyed the soundtrack, it can be purchased right here. A quick note about the PlayStation 5 version, the game has added a few vibration effects to the DualSense, so it was fun to see the developer uses this.
On the trophies side, Cursed to Golf has a very short list with only 13 trophies, split into 2 Bronze trophies and 11 Gold trophies on your way to a new Platinum trophy. This game will prove very challenging for trophy hunters since it asks you to finish the game and finish some holes with four shots (Birdie), three shots (Eagle), two shots (Ace), and one shot (Hole in One!). Since the golf holes are shuffled for every run, you’ll be playing this one for a while as you get better and better.
Cursed to Golf is a unique experience and one that was very fun to play out. The trailer sold me on the game, and after getting a chance to take it for a spin on PlayStation 5, I’m here to report that the game certainly delivers. It’s not an easy game, but it does offer a challenging but fair experience. Cursed to Golf is available with a $19.99 asking price.
Disclaimer
This Cursed to Golf review is based on a PlayStation copy provided by Thunderful Games.
