Normal Golf Game is a new kind of golf experience where it is equally trying to mess with you and make you have fun learning its flimsy mechanics.
Have you ever felt like a game hates you? Like the developer is sitting somewhere just laughing, thinking of gamers trying to achieve self-realization by obtaining one more digital trophy through their obtusely designed gameplay? I have no doubt that some games are actually made with trolling in mind, but there is a unique crop of games that have spurred with a purer goal. Normal Golf Game, as meta as the title is, is one such experience. As much as it feels like it’s attempting to mess with you, in this case the developer (whose name is featured prominently) is also willing you on.
Luke Muscat is renowned for his work on Jetpack Joyride and Fruit Ninja, games that marked part of my teenage years. For that reason itself I took a deep breath and gave Normal Golf Game a fair chance, even though it tested my patience. As its name implies, this is a game about golf. While there is nothing nefarious going on in the background, it could feel from the outset that it could be eventually subverting expectations much like Doki Doki Literature Club or The Stanley Parable. Nothing of the sort here. Just good old golf. Well, kind of.
You spawn in the parking lot of a sprawling golf course, ready to start Luke Muscat’s latest tournament. The first thing to notice is how silly the very real hands appear from your first-person perspective. Luke then talks to you in a rather patronizing manner from a camera about how he’s glad you made it for the event. Lo and behold, the true source of my frustrations and celebrations took shape: the golfing. This is not Mario Golf. This is not the PGA Tour. Normal Golf Game’s golf mechanic shines in how flimsy and precise it is at the same time.
Reaching the practice range, the game shows a whole new interface when golfing. On the left side there’s your movable position, and on the right there’s a small stick man with a club in front of a ball. While playable with a controller, it is crystal clear that this is meant to be played with a mouse and keyboard. Why? Because to swing the club, you must swiftly move the mouse downward to hit the ball. As if it were not enough, you need to keep the left button pressed. At the same time, you need to be aware of the Q, E, A, D, Z & C keys to shape up how your ball will be angled.
Learning how to play this alone is a challenge, but Normal Golf Game does not stop there. Once the tutorial is passed—and you are mocked for taking your time with it—this is where the adventure really starts. One of the beginner tasks is to hit billboards close and far around the green to help you learn how to curve your shot properly. It is imperative to highlight how frustrating this can be. This game is for anyone with a sense of humor, plenty of patience, or a streamer to suffer for the amusement of their viewers. Regardless, there is indeed a strange sense of relief once that mission is done. Until the game opens up.
Featuring over 100 bounties in a large field, each of these makes you go through increasingly obtuse challenges. Making the ball get to platforms, cross through specific gaps between magic walls, or hit hidden gongs, there is no shortage of creative ways to golf. Looking at it from that perspective, there is nothing normal about this golfing. If anyone does get tired of the shenanigans and does connect with this particular gameplay style of hitting the golf ball, there is the option to play a veritably normal 9-hole course. But why would you want to do that?
In the end, there is only one step from hate to love. Or at least that’s what they say. In Normal Golf Game’s case, it certainly does not make it easy to love in the beginning. But there is a certain charm to not giving up and trying again to connect with its unruly gameplay. Going through each of the increasingly wild challenges is its own merit. Because it is not about proving whether you can beat any game that is put right in front of you, but about having fun in the process.
Normal Golf Game is out now for Steam.
