[Review] nGolf – Nintendo Switch

Developed and Published By: Reddeer Games
Categories: Sports, Puzzle
Release Date: 01.11.24
Price: $21.99

nGolf is a very short and simple game so there isn’t much to talk about. But if you enjoy golf games and puzzles, you might like this one for the right price. nGolf is no different from your average minigolf simulator, with each hole being really short and straightforward. When you first start the game, each hole will be really easy as you only have to worry about aiming and how much power you want to hit the ball with. Physics does the rest for you and the ball goes in the hole automatically if you’re near it.

Once you complete the first course of eight holes, you unlock the next one which features different music, a unique design, and some tougher challenges. In total there are eight courses which means there are more than 60 holes. That might sound like a lot but because of how short and easy they are, you can beat the game in less than an hour.

While some of the puzzles when the holes get tougher are fun to figure out and there’s some replayability, an hour of content is not worth it for the initial asking price of $22. I was able to get the game on sale for only $4 a few days after it came out, which gives me hope that it could go on sale often. But I would not recommend paying full price for it. The other aspects of nGolf are pretty simple as well, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Overall, the music is pretty good, each course uses its own theme and they are all good. However, I’m not a fan of when games use music that can also be found in other games. For example, the first theme that plays when you launch nGolf happens to be the draft mode theme from social deduction game Goose Goose Duck. Obviously, it’s okay when the music is either licensed or royalty free. But it still makes me think of the media that used it first instead of appreciating how it’s used here. But other than that, the game sounds good.

Personally, I would say that the visual are the best aspect. For a simple minigolf game, the developers put a lot of effort into how it looks. Each course has its own cool design with a ton of detail, and sometimes the tile that the hole is on will shift around. There re also some dynamic animations that I really enjoyed such as a little roller coater that moves around one of the holes.

Do I recommend nGolf? I do, but not at that ridiculous price tag. You’ll be lucky if you can get two hours of gameplay and then never play. It again. I think you should play nGolf but don’t pay more than like $6 if at all possible. If this game was closer to that price, the score would have been much higher but it’s hard to recommend such a short game that costs more than $20.

3/5