What the Golf?
Year: 2019
Rating: E10+
Time Played: 5.27 hours
It seems to me that modern indie games fall into two categories: art and humor. While games like Journey and Gris trend toward the art, games like Untitled Goose Game and What the Golf? are solidly in the humor category. Of course, the humor in What the Golf? is best appreciated by those who are familiar with a wide variety of video games. Just off the top of my head, this game references Super Mario Bros., Angry Birds, Superhot, Portal, Metal Gear Solid, and Super Meat Boy. Even without this referential humor, What the Golf? does have enough amusing moments for anyone to enjoy.
The biggest problem I found with this game is its difficulty and replay value. Granted, I haven’t found someone to explore the co-op mode on the Switch version, but I completed the base game in just over five hours. Since I also took the time to collect some of the “crowns,” I have already completed 77% of the game in this first play-through. The basic holes were reasonably straightforward, but the additional “challenges” for each hole are either equally as easy to accomplish or are too difficult to spend any more time completing.
While I’ve heard that this game will be receiving free DLC in the future, I think it’s currently too short for its full-price status. It’s maybe worth about $10, so if there’s a sale, certainly pick it up for a few laughs. Nothing was uproariously funny, but most puns and references made me go, “Ha!” If anything, this game was good at showing how many different gimmicks it can include in a single experience (likely due to how many other games it alludes to). Will I ever complete this game 100%? Probably not. It felt like a “one and done” and gave me some entertainment for a few hours.
A referentially humorous take on golf, I give What the Golf? 3.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
