Golf It

Golf It is a minigolf simulation game developed by Perfuse Entertainment, released in 2017 for Windows. Players embark on an adventurous journey across countless creatively designed courses, focusing on multiplayer interactions and skill refinement. The game features a detailed yet user-friendly level editor for custom course creation and supports virtual reality, providing an immersive and engaging golfing experience for both casual and competitive play.

Golf It: The Unlikely Sovereign of Sandbox Minigolf

In the vast and often staid landscape of sports video games, where annualized franchises meticulously simulate the precise physics of a backswing, Golf It emerges not as a sim, but as a happening. It is a game that understands the fundamental truth of minigolf: the magic isn’t in the par, but in the shared, often ludicrous, journey between tee and cup. Released into Early Access in 2017 and properly launched in 2023 by the one-person studio Perfuse Entertainment, Golf It has quietly, persistently, built a kingdom of creativity and chaos. This review will argue that Golf It’s legacy will not be defined by simulating the sport of golf, but by perfected the experience of playing it with friends, powered by one of the most accessible and profound level editors in modern gaming.

1. Introduction: A Hole-in-One for Creativity

When envisioning a “golf game,” the mind conjures serene emerald fairways, the polite tap-tap of a putter, and the hushed concentration of a pro on the 18th green. Golf It shatters thisquietude immediately. From its first swing, which is governed not by a three-click meter but by the furious, physical flick of your mouse, the game announces its allegiance to fun over fidelity. Its thesis is simple yet powerful: the greatest minigolf courses are not those designed by professionals, but those conjured by the collective, unfettered imagination of a player base given the tools to build. In an era of meticulously curated live services, Golf It is a refreshing, anarchic relic—a pure game whose primary narrative is written by its community, one wacky, themed hole at a time.

2. Development History & Context: The Long Tee-Off

The Studio & The Vision: Perfuse Entertainment, effectively a solo developer operation, represents the enduring spirit of the indie auteur. With Golf It, the vision was clear from the outset: a multiplayer minigolf game where the social experience and creative expression took precedence over realistic simulation. This is not a project born from a publisher’s market analysis but from a personal desire to capture the spontaneous joy of playing putt-putt with friends, amplified by the boundless possibilities of user-generated content.

Technological Constraints & The Early Access Odyssey: The game’s journey, entering Steam Early Access on February 17, 2017, is central to its identity. This was not a short, polished Early Access cycle. Instead, it spanned over six years until its full release on August 18, 2023. This protracted development, while testing patience, was a strategic masterstroke. The “constraint” became an advantage: the game evolved in direct, constant dialogue with its earliest adopters. The core Multiplayer Editor, a feature the official MobyGames description heralds as its most exciting, was built and refined alongside a growing community. This era saw the addition of critical features like VR support (“let itself translate to VR,” as noted in the sole critic review), a dynamic landscape system, and the expansion of its object library to “over 1.000 placeable objects.” The technological limits of supporting cross-platform play, Steam Workshop integration, and a robust in-game editor for a tiny team were immense, but the slow-burn development allowed for iterative perfection of these very systems.

Gaming Landscape Context: Golf It’s Early Access debut in 2017 placed it in a fascinating niche. It arrived after the peak of the “Wii U minigolf boom” (exemplified by Mario Golf and Golf Story) but before the widespread adoption of expansive UGC platforms like Roblox or Dreams in the mainstream consciousness. It was a pure, focused hybrid: part casual sports game, part creative sandbox. While AAA golf sims (PGA Tour 2K) and arcade titles (Mario Golf: Super Rush) battled for the traditionalist space, Golf It staked its claim on the chaotic, creative frontier—a space it largely has to itself.

3. Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive: The Story is the Course

To discuss a traditional narrative in Golf It is to engage with the game’s most striking omission. There is no protagonist. There is no caddie with a heartfelt story. There is no RPG-like progression of a character trying to reclaim a lost love of the game (as in the contemporaneous but entirely separate Golf Story). The narrative of Golf It is emergent, multiplayer, and entirely player-authored.

Golf It!’s official descriptions across IMDb and Steam employ the same boilerplate language: “Embark on an exciting journey… Seize your putter, rally your friends, and immerse yourself in an epic minigolf adventure.” This is not a failure of writing but a conscious design philosophy. The “epic adventure” is the rivalry with a friend who just made a ridiculous bank shot off a giant spinning gear. The “lasting memory” is the shared laughter after a ball gets stuck in a precarious, player-designed contraption for ten minutes. The “ultamate minigolf champion” is the host of the custom map that everyone is raving about in the server chat.

The theme, therefore, is collective creativity and playful competition. Each official map—Grassland, Winterland, Graveyard, Mines, Pirates Cove—provides a thematic aesthetic palette and unique mechanics (ice, spooky obstacles, etc.). But the true heart lies in the Workshop, where players build courses that are narrative experiences in themselves: a journey through a food-themed obstacle course, a surreal journey into a cyberpunk city, or a punishingly intricate “Plinko” machine. The story you remember is the one you and your friends lived through on a custom map, a story with no dialogue but a thousand memorable moments.

4. Gameplay Mechanics & Systems: The Physics of Fun

Core Loop & The “Mouse Swing”: The fundamental deviation from golf canon is the input system. Rejecting the power-accuracy-accuracy meters of Mario Golf or the analog stick finesse of sims, Golf It uses a mouse-speed-based hit system. The speed at which you drag the mouse backward and release it determines power. This is deceptively simple. It rewards a physical, almost tactile sense of rhythm and force, making a gentle putt feel subtly different from a booming drive. It adds a layer of human, “wrists-up” skill that is immediately accessible but has a high ceiling for mastery—a perfect metaphor for the game’s entire ethos. It’s not about perfect simulation; it’s about a satisfying, skill-based feel.

The Crown Jewel: The Multiplayer Editor & Workshop: This is where Golf It transcends being a merely good game and becomes a platform. The editor is not a separate, complex modding tool; it is seamlessly integrated. As the MobyGames description details, players have access to “thousands of unique objects, a dynamic landscape, and complex event systems.” You can place every asset from the official maps—a pirate ship, a gravestone, a minecart—and combine them with logic gates, moving platforms, and triggers. The “Multiplayer Editor” allows friends to collaborate in real-time on a course, turning map-making into a social activity. Paired with Steam Workshop integration, this has created a virtuous cycle: the game provides the tools, the community provides endless content (from achievable challenges to “Willy Wonka’s nightmare” obstacle courses), and the game’s value is perpetually multiplied.

Systems & Flaws: The surrounding systems are serviceable but lean. Progression is largely cosmetic and seasonal. The “seasons” reset leaderboards and reward “exclusive gear based on your ranking,” a light touch that encourages replay without heavy-handed RPG stats. Multiplayer is the star: supporting online PvP, shared/split-screen, cross-platform play, and even 30+ player gatherings. This focus on large-scale, chaotic fun is unique. The primary “flaw” is the very lightness that defines it. Players seeking deep RPG mechanics, a compelling single-player campaign, or revolutionary golf simulation will find a barren landscape. As RPGamer’s critic noted, it “doesn’t provide anything overly new” in the RPG layer because, frankly, the RPG layer is an afterthought. The game’s genius is in knowing what to leave out.

5. World-Building, Art & Sound: A Playground of aesthetics

Visual Direction & Aesthetics: Golf It‘s art style is bright, cartoonish, and clear. The eight official courses establish strong, distinct visual identities: the lush greens of Grassland, the icy blues of Winterland, the murky tones of the Graveyard. This clarity is functional; in a game where you must read complex shot angles and the behavior of moving obstacles, visual readability is paramount. The asset library in the editor is vast and stylistically consistent, allowing players to mix-and-match themes (a snow-covered desert course? Absolutely) without breaking visual coherence. The aesthetic is one of a polished, high-quality toy box.

Atmosphere & Sound Design: The atmosphere is entirely player-determined. A serious tournament on a “classic” course can feel like a competitive sport. A chaotic match on a community-made “food” map with giant pizzas and donuts becomes surreal and comedic. The sound design supports this: satisfying thwacks for hits, a cheerful plink for the ball dropping in the hole, and playful, unobtrusive music that changes with the course theme. It never overwhelms, leaving the social chatter and gasps of disbelief as the primary audio track.

Contribution to Experience: The art and sound work in perfect harmony with the editor. The consistent, readable style makes the editor’s vast library usable. The cheerful, non-intrusive soundscape ensures the focus remains on the shot and the social experience. They build a safe, inviting sandbox where creativity is the only limit.

6. Reception & Legacy: A Cult Classic in the Making

Critical Reception: Critical response has been warmly positive but focused. The single recorded critic score on MobyGames is 85% from Gameplay (Benelux), which specifically praised the “detailed but user-friendly level editor” and its successful VR adaptation. Reviews for the similar Golf Story highlight what Golf It does not have—a strong narrative—but also what it does: charm and fun. Golf It was rarely reviewed as a traditional game, but when it was, the praise centered on its social mechanics and creative freedom.

Player Reception & Commercial Success: Here lies the fascinating dichotomy. On Steam, the game is a significant hit: “Very Positive” with 89% of 11,842 reviews, and a real-time Player Score of 90/100 from nearly 30,000 reviews. The community is active, with guides, artwork, and a thriving Workshop. Yet, on MobyGames, which aggregates a more curated, traditional review set, it holds a baffling 2.0/5 player score based on a single rating. This stark contrast suggests Golf It lives in two worlds: the mainstream Steam audience, which adores its sandbox fun, and the “hardcore” game historiography space, which may find its lack of conventional depth disqualifying.

Influence & Legacy: Golf It‘s legacy is that of a specialist genre-definer. It stands in the lineage of games that provide powerful creation tools and become platforms: TrackMania for racing, Super Mario Maker for 2D platforming. Golf It is the definitive “Super Mario Maker of Minigolf.” Its influence is seen not in AAA copycats, but in the DNA of future indie sports games that prioritize player creation and social chaos over simulation. The thousands of community courses are its lasting monument. It proved that a golf game could have the longevity and creative resonance of a game like Minecraft in its specific niche, powered by a dedicated, creative community.

7. Conclusion: A Permanent Resident of the Fun Factory

Golf It is not a great golf game. It is a spectacular minigolf game, and more importantly, a spectacular social creation game. Its power lies in its unwavering focus on a single, brilliant idea: combine a robust, integrated level editor with satisfying, accessible physics and top-tier multiplayer features. The absence of a traditional narrative is not a bug but a feature; the story is what you make with your friends on a course made by someone else, or one you built together at 2 AM.

Its place in video game history is secure as a paragon of the indie, community-driven service model done right. It avoided the pitfalls of monetizing creativity; instead, it invested in tools and let the community’s boundless imagination become its content pipeline. In a industry obsessed with scale and cinematic storytelling, Golf It is a potent reminder that some of gaming’s deepest joys come from a simple putt, a ridiculous custom course, and the voice of a friend on Discord saying, “You have to see this hole I just made.”

Final Verdict: 9/10 — A masterclass in focused design and community empowerment. It may not appear on any “Best Games of All Time” lists that value narrative or technical prowess, but for anyone who has ever laughed until they cried during a chaotic custom minigolf match, Golf It is already a timeless classic. Its green is wherever we decide to build it.