What the Golf?

Genre: Sports (Golf) / Misc.

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

What the Golf? is a unique family-friendly game originally released to PC and iOS in 2019 and ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2020. Dubbed by its developer as “The golf game for people who hate golf!” and “made by people who know nothing about golf”, What the Golf? is a game that starts with the basic premise of a simple Golf game, but quickly throws a wrench in the formula by having each of the game’s many numerous levels re-imagine the sport by toying with some of its basic fundamentals, as if the game’s designers all tossed ideas back and forth like “what if golf but with explosions?”, “what if golf but you hit the club instead of the ball?”, “what if golf but more like Mario?”, “What if golf but the hole runs away from you?”, “What if golf but in spaaaaaaace!”, “what if golf, but more like bowling?”, “what if golf but more like bowling… in spaaaaaaaaace!” and so on.

In terms of its presentation, What the Golf? Keeps it simple. Courses and objects are presented with colorful, low-poly, largely untextured 3D models, and the game overall has a pleasant and simple cartoony look that works well for the silliness this game pushes forward. This is accompanied by a pleasant a capella soundtrack that helps to underline the lighthearted mood of the game. Oh, and I suppose this is as good a place to mention it as any: this game is full of puns, memes, and pop culture references. But especially puns.

The basic controls in What the Golf are fairly consistent throughout, even though just what you’ll be doing will change from one level to the next – players simply press the control stick in a direction and press the A or ZR button to interact with whatever object you’re controlling, with the distance you push the analog stick determining the strength of your interaction, such as how far you hit. I should note that if you suffer from Joy-Con drift, this is a game that will be heavily affected by that. Those playing the game in portable mode can alternately opt to use touchscreen controls, which I found worked better in some levels and not as good in others. I’d say that playing in handheld mode is ideal so you can switch between the two whenever you feel like you’ll benefit from it, but playing the game docked works well enough with standard controls.

As for the gameplay itself, one of the best things What the Golf has going for it is variety – you never quite know what to expect in each new level. It’s almost always easy to get a grasp of what you’re expected to do thanks to the controls remaining the same, but what that is will change throughout – you could be playing a golf game with some unusual conditions, or playing a different genre entirely, but with golf mechanics and controls. Golf generally plays some element in each of the game’s levels, but sometimes only very loosely so.

This variety grounded by common gameplay elements makes for a consistently good time, and while not every new level was quite as fun as the last, there’s always that possibility when you fire up the next one that it’ll have some fresh new idea for you to delight in. There’s also a fair amount of challenge here for those who seek it – each of the game’s levels has two additional optional levels attached to it for those wanting to complete the game 100%.

In addition to the fairly sizable main campaign, What the Golf also includes a Daily Challenge to compete for the lowest par on an online leaderboard on a daily selection of the game’s levels, a marathon mode called Impossible Challenge that has players taking on a series of challenging levels and competing for the lowest par on an online leaderboard, a “Show to a Friend” mode that lets players sample some of the game’s levels without going through the campaign, and “Party Mode”, which has two players competing locally in a series of races. These modes, in particular the Party Mode, ensure that this game will still have a lot of fun for players to enjoy even after completing the main campaign, though I will say I wish there were more options, and the ability to play with more players – this sort of wackiness really feels like it would be ideal to share with four players.

Still, while there is room for improvement here, overall What the Golf? Is a very satisfying game, one that offers tons of variety without becoming confusing. I feel like this game delivers on its promise of being a golf game even those who don’t like golf can still enjoy, and those who do like golf will probably also enjoy it, though they definitely shouldn’t expect anything resembling an accurate depiction of the sport.

tl;dr – What the Golf? Is a family-friendly game that starts with the basic concept of golf and then re-works it and messes with its basic fundamentals in as many ways as possible. The result is a game with tons of variety, a great sense of humor, and a surprisingly fun multiplayer mode. Definitely worth a try even if you’re not a fan of golf.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best Sports Game – While What the Golf likes to sell itself as “the golf game for people who don’t like golf”, I tend to think it’s really a golf game for everyone, golf-lovers and golf-haters alike. This game is so wild and varied, it’s like an exploration of the possibilities of videogames as a whole, all through the lens of “what if X… but golf?”. Add to that a delightful sense of humor, and What the Golf becomes a game I’d recommend not only to those who don’t like golf, but to those who don’t like sports in general. This is just an all-around great game… that happens to also be a great golf game.

Runner-Up: Best Game for Kids and Casual Players, Funniest Game, Most Original

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