Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something about a game that starts with the death and resurrection of the main character that immediately captures my attention. Cursed to Golf – the latest from developer Chuhai Labs – is a roguelike golf adventure game – yes, you read that right. The PAX East 2022 demo begins with our main character, a plucky little golf champion, showing off for a roaring crowd and making his way towards the final hole. Suddenly, the clear blue sky is swarmed by a mass of storm clouds and our is struck by a bolt of lighting…and dies. It may sound grim, but don’t worry; death is only the beginning for our nameless hero, and it’s the beginning for the most creative and enjoyable roguelike titles to grace the genre in years.
After being un-alived, I awake to find myself in Golf Purgatory, and learn that I have to golf my way through 18 hellish holes to appease the Golf God for a chance to live again. Right away, this scenario prompts all sorts of questions: If there is a Golf God, is there a Golf Satan? Does a purgatory exist for other sports…or even occupations? If not, what makes golf so special? While I don’t have all the answers, an eccentric character known as The Scotsman – a similarly cursed golfer who sort of plays the Virgil to your Dante – appears to bring me up to speed on my predicament and helps navigate me through this fresh hell I find myself in. The one-sided conversation is very cheeky and sets up the world of Cursed to Golf in an appropriately goofy fashion.
The demo featured an extensive tutorial which guided me through the ins and outs of Cursed to Golf’s approach to the popular sport. Our plucky golf champion has a selection of three basic clubs – a Driver, Iron and Wedge – each of which has a particular arc and range. Each club offers distinct advantages over the other but fortunately, you don’t need to be playing on a professional level – or even have a basic understanding of golf – to understand which club is best suitable for each situation. The Driver is your heavy hitter and covers the longest distance, the Iron is your middle-of-the-road sorta club that offers a decent range, and the Wedge is your go to for short-range accuracy…or digging yourself out of a sand trap. At the start of each hole, you are given a limited number of strokes to reach your goal – this is roguelike element of Cursed to Golf. If you use up all your strokes before the end of the level, it’s game over and you have to start the entire hole over again right from the beginning. As luck would have it, there are a number of abilities at your disposal to make things a bit less hellish.
For starters, Silver and Gold Idols decorate the 2D golf course. Smashing either one of them increases your PAR Count, giving you more turns to finish the hole. But the real game changer here are the ability cards you can acquire/purchase throughout the game. These cards offer necessary techniques that can radically alter the course of a run. The Time Stop Card for example, allowed me to stop time while my golfball was in motion, allowing it to stop and drop exactly where I wanted it to. The +1 Shot Card adds a shot to my current PAR Count. The Practice Shot Card lets me take a risky shot without any penalty. And the Fireball Card ignites the golfball, which is great for clearing out hazardous TNT boxes. Developer Chuhai Labs promises tons of more cards and I’m anxious to see how outrageous and zany the selection will be by the time I reach the end of the game.
Cursed to Golf’s gameplay is such a refreshing departure from what a roguelike ‘should’ be. After investing HUNDREDS of hours in The Binding of Isaac, Dead Cells, Returnal, and Curse of the Dead Gods, it felt so strangely satisfying to play a much more slower-paced roguelike which relied more on strategy. A nifty Golf Cam mechanic allowed me to get a full, zoomed-out view of the sprawling golf course to properly plan my next shot. It’s as methodical and patience-demanding as actual golf, without any of the tedium that goes along with it. I hardly play any sports games, let alone golf games. So to be so incredibly mesmerized by this absolute charmer of pixel-art golf game, really speaks to the quality of the experience.
I have zero interest in golf but I would happily play Cursed to Golf for all eterni-tee. No matter which way you slice it, Chuhai Labs has a guaranteed hole-in-one with Cursed to Golf. Like our cursed golf boy, we too must suffer just a little bit as we wait for the full release sometime this year. In the meantime, you can satisfy your curiosity and download the demo on Steam, and wishlist the balls off of this ambitious little golf game; you will not regret it.
