Cursed to Golf (2022) [Steam]

“If you’re caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron.”
–Lee Trevino

Cursed to Golf is a lovingly handcrafted 2D pixel purgatory brought to us by developer Chuhai Labs and publisher Thunderful Games. It’s a game like no other even though the premise is familiar. It takes the sport of golf and mixes it with the roguelite subgenre. Roguelite is defined by having randomly generated levels and having the player restart when they get a game over. This concept alone is a bit daunting but if done correctly, it can create a fun and highly replayable experience. Does Cursed to Golf grab the golden trophy or score a bogey?

The 8-bit Review

Narrative: 6/10

It’s a beautiful sunny day on the golf course and the champ is on the 18th hole. They are only a couple strokes away from winning the tournament and taking home the coveted trophy. Stands full with crowds of people cheer as commentators praise the champ with each swing. Ominously, storm clouds move in and rain starts to pour down. With the champ winding up for the last stroke a bolt of lightning hits their club. Unfortunately, the champ is dead and wakes up in purgatory. Golf purgatory to be exact!

The friendly figure of The Scotsman appears and helps the champ understand their predicament. He explains that the only way to escape golf purgatory is to play 18 holes of golf. If the champ makes it through every hole under par, the predetermined number of strokes a golfer should make to complete a hole, they’ll get a second chance at life. Each hole is randomly selected and has plenty of hazards to overcome. The champ will have to play the best golf of their life to escape and live again.

Cursed to Golf‘s story is a familiar tale but it’s a good setup for the adventure. It has a simple premise and a short intro which gets you into the gameplay quickly. The narrative takes a back seat once the game officially starts but you’ll run into several characters along the way who give more information. The Scotsman, as mentioned before, is the first character you’ll meet, a green ghost with a long orange beard. He teaches you the basics of the game and instructs on the dangers of golfing in purgatory. There are four environments to golf in, each one with a new character to meet.

Gameplay: 8/10

When you think of golf as a sport, what comes to mind? The form of a perfect stroke, getting to the end of the hole under par, or maybe it’s the cart that sells the misshapen ice cream sticks that look like the characters you love? Unfortunately, Cursed to Golf doesn’t serve you ice cream but it does allow you to hit the perfect stroke to reach the cup under par. Each course is randomly selected with the layout remaining the same. This helps the player create strategies for completing holes faster if they fail. Each course has plenty of verticality and can become increasingly hard to navigate. Luckily, you can use the birdie view which allows you to look around the whole map and plot out your path.

Golfing in the game is simplified to a few button presses. First, you’ll choose what club you want to use. You have the option of a driver, iron, or wedge each with its own advantages. The driver is for hitting balls as far as you can, it boasts the most power and distance of all the clubs. The disadvantage of the driver is the limited distance at which you can see where your ball is going. The Iron is used for shorter distances while still having power behind the shot. It’s mostly used for getting over obstacles like sand traps and spikes but can also be used for more precise hits. The wedge is the weakest of the three clubs but has the distinct advantage of being able to lob your ball in an arch. This is great for getting out of corners, lobbing your ball up to higher areas, and making shorter hits. All three of the clubs work together so that you can make it to the end of the hole.

Second, you’ll need to set the power of the shot. This is indicated by a bar that fills and lowers quickly. The fuller the bar, the more power will be behind the shot, meaning that it will go farther. As stated before, each club has limitations on how far they can reach so choosing the best tool for the job is the key. If the power of the shot isn’t to your liking it can be redone by pressing the back button.

Finally, the arc of your shot is taken into effect. Depending on how hard the ball will be hit determines the arc (and range). If there is more power behind a shot the arc will be flatter or if there is less then it will have more of a curve. Be warned, as soon as the arc is set the ball will be hit. This adds an element of timing and can make it trickier to hit a perfect shot.

Adding spin to your shots is a helpful tool. By tapping a button on your controller the visual of the golf ball will spin. Moving the joystick left or right will cause the ball to move in that direction once it hits the ground. I’ve used this more than once to sink a shot on my last stroke or to get away from a corner. It’s a fairly easy mechanic and helps out a lot when there are hazards around.

Cursed to Golf has many of the same rules that apply to a normal game of golf. Making it to the end of the hole under par is paramount to your success and is the only thing to worry about while trying to ascend out of purgatory. Shooting over par will take your character back to the beginning and reset any advantages picked up along the way. These advantages are called ace cards. A lot of roguelite games will give you items like these to help overcome the challenge of finishing the game in one life.

There are many unique ace cards to acquire, one called the practice shot allows you to hit the ball to see where it will go without wasting a swing. Another allows you to guide your ball like a rocket for a short amount of time, this is great for sharp corners or seeking out shortcuts. You can buy ace cards from the store or find them during your travels. At the store, there are single cards you can buy or packs that contain multiple.

Along the course, there are also silver and gold statues. When you hit them with the golf ball they’ll add extra shots to the par of the course. Silver statues give you two and gold ones add four.

Uniqueness: 9/10

Golf and roguelite combined, it’s a new genre! It’s true, Cursed to Golf is officially the first ‘golf-like’ as described by Thunderful games’ website. This sounds like an odd combination but it goes hand-in-hand very well. The sport of golf works really well here and it’s hard to believe this hasn’t been done before.

This also brings in new challenges for the player unique to this game. Cursed courses offer a new challenge with random events taking place. Sometimes the wind will blow really fast in one direction, the ground is extra bouncy, or the time to make your shot is shortened. Hazards such as the bunker, rough, or water are common for golf games but there are also other things to look out for.

Tombstones with mud around them should be avoided, a skeleton hand will pop up and steal your ball if you are caught near them. Other hazards like ricochet walls and transport pipes shouldn’t be avoided. Walls with pink borders allow you to control where your ball heads after hitting them. Transport pipes and teleporters also help you by quickly taking you farther in the course without having to hit extra shots. Cursed to Golf doesn’t have the most unique story but it excels in other areas like the gameplay and character designs.

Audio: 10/10

The music in Cursed to Golf is written and performed by Mark Sparling who has worked on other games such as A Short Hike and Shantae and the Seven Sirens. The chiptune music has a great groove to it and is very enjoyable to listen to while playing. Each area you visit has a unique vibe and the music reflects that. The first area has a very grandiose and bombastic sound which fits The Scotsman well. Other areas like the desert have an Egyptian feel to them. The soundtrack compliments the graphics and tone perfectly which enhances the experience.

Along with the soundtrack, other golfing sounds are perfectly represented in the game. When you hit a ball with different clubs they each make their own unique sound, if a ball drops in water there is a nice splash effect, and the thud of hitting sand in a bunker is satisfying. Sound design is done well when you can close your eyes and know what happened. Cursed to Golf is one of those games.

Challenge: 7/10

The difficulty curve of Cursed to Golf is sharp. Once you leave the first area (4 holes) things become much more difficult. A boss fight waits at the end of each area where you golf against an opponent trying to finish the course before them. The boss courses add a new statue to break that will stun the opponent giving you an opportunity to catch up or gain more ground.

Boss fights only need to be completed once, which is a nice feature. The main challenge of the game is finishing all the courses in one go. I found the game to be difficult, especially towards the end. The courses become trickier and ace cards become scarcer, which mistakes death sentences.

Visual: 9/10

Pixel art has become increasingly popular with indie titles over the years and Cursed to Golf is no exception. It has incredible backgrounds with lovely color layering. The first area doesn’t catch the eye quite like the rest, it’s much more basic and muted in tone. Later on in the desert, caves, and final area, there is great mixture of color and background visuals. Objects in your field of view pop like the TNT crates, ricochet walls, and sand traps. The water in the game looks great as the waves move and trees sway in the breeze. The character designs are top notch, I especially love the design of The Scotsman. All the character’s personalities are brought out through their designs, even the champ.

Replayability: 6/10

There are over 80 courses to play on through your journey in Cursed to Golf but many of them don’t feel unique. Each of the four areas has a similar template for their courses, some do have major differences but others feel too similar. Most of the game’s replayability comes from the fun of making it to the end. At first, restarting from the beginning is frustrating but as I got farther into the game, the beginning courses were a breath of fresh air. The easier courses allowed me to get back into a groove while also using fewer ace cards after mastering them. Once the game is finished there is an online leaderboard to compete in but not much else at this time.

Personal: 8/10

Cursed to Golf is filled to the brim with charisma and challenge. The beautiful pixel art graphics combine with the music perfectly, working together to really enhance the experience. I really liked the design of the characters and areas. Returning to the beginning of the game is frustrating at times but that changed as I progressed. The core mechanics of the game and story are a bit basic but the ace cards help mix things up. Cursed to Golf has a great mix of challenge and visual flair that kept me interested and coming back for one more round.

Thank you to Thunderful Games and Chuhai Labs for providing a copy of Cursed to Golf for this critique!

Aggregated Score: 7.9

YemmytheFerret (Yemmy) is a podcast host for shows like Ferret64, Fubar Ferret, and FIlm Freakz. He also is a variety streamer on Twitch who currently lives in Ohio. He plays a bit of everything but loves platfomers, shooters, and action RPG’s. Favorite game: Banjo-Kazooie.