Review: Golfie

Terrific Tee-off!

Milk and apple juice. Socks and sandals. Nirvana and sobriety. Some things just don’t go together. 

However, like peanut butter and jelly or cocaine and the hind quarters of a sex worker, some combos just work. And the fusion of the genres golf, rogue-like, and deck-builder, in Triheart Studio’s Golfie, go together wonderfully too… apparently! Who knew? 

But trying out new things doesn’t always last for the entirety of the product. Is Golfie a sporty gimmick or the next thing since sliced ham? Grab your clubs, call over your caddy and let’s find out.  

World of Golf

The world of Golfie is gorgeous. A happy place where golf balls sing and dance all day and into the night, forever and ever, amen. 

It’s just a very positive place to be. No bullshit, just happiness. 

Shiny as a Freshly Cleaned Golf Ball

Simple, 3D, brightly colored, untextured and gorgeous. Everything shines and is well put together. Built in a basic kind of a way but built to last. There is little to complain about here because although it’s no-frills, the style fits perfectly and adds to the fun and simplicity of the Golfie experience. 

Clever Combo

With such simple visuals and lack of a story, Golfie better have solid, varied, fresh gameplay, you may be thinking.

My previous experience of being a golfer-gamer and basis for comparison was Albatross18, played many moons ago on PC. This was an online, similarly cartoony golf game that was not very skill-based but super-duper fun, with lots of tournaments, social features, and character skins customization. 

The hook of Golfie is that it combines rogue-like and deck-builder within a golf game.

Golfie has far deeper gameplay than Abatross18, though still very easy to get to grips with once you have worked out the controls. Everything feels as smooth as a virgin, dew-strewn putting green on a Spring morning. 

Levels are varied in themes like Japanese Zen Garden, Beach, or Medieval Castle. They are all very different, and each hole in the same course is deliberately and meticulously designed to give the most fun, variety, and challenge per hole that you could possibly want. 

The hook of Golfie is that it combines rogue-like and deck-builder within a golf game. These aspects work very well and add a lot to the experience but are also seamlessly integrated into the gameplay. First up, rogue-like. 

The rogue-like aspect of Golfie means that some elements of the player’s profile level up, but that you always start from the beginning each time you begin a session. Leveling up unlocks cards that can be used in the deck-builder dynamic. 

Deck-building is a more overt dynamic in Golfie. Cards are chosen to give strategic advantages, such as a lob shot, power shot, or curve ball. These are all useful and well implemented, as they are all needed to get to the hole. Where it gets fascinating is the special and rare cards, bought at the shop or earned through crystals. 

The plethora of special and rare cards allows many more weird, wacky and wonderful abilities and buffs, such as attaching a jet-pack to your ball for extra lift. This keeps the game exciting, as these cards are so varied and often powerful, allowing you to make it to Eagle as you’ve never done before. 

The shop can be accessed by hitting it with a golf ball. Here, items can be purchased to help you along in a pinch. 

All the game mechanics coalesce beautifully for an easy to pick up, but perfectly challenging gaming experience. Each dynamic adds a lot to the enjoyment and satisfaction of the game without it being too obvious that this is such a unique, original sports game. This is mini-golf on steroids. But it feels seamless as taking a walk on grassy fields. 

The Glorious Sound of Whacking Off

Music is upbeat and chirpy, as one might expect. There are many tracks for different courses, and they are all laid back and easy to listen to. All are appropriate to the style of Golfie. 

Closing Thoughts 

It was exciting to hear of a sports sim trying to do something different. Since the rogue-like and deck-builder genres are so popular these days, it is a stroke of genius to squeeze these two into something so seemingly incongruous as a golf game. But it works. My god, how it works! 

Multiplayer isn’t operational just yet, but this will be a thing of wonder when it is. Replayability for the current single-player build is high, but thinking of smashing balls around in Golfie with friends or strangers alike in a competition setting is something to be very excited about.