Review | Normal Golf Game - The Malevolent, Benevolent Teacher
In some ways, Normal Golf Game is the perfect golf game for me. I’m not a sports guy, but I marvel at the precision of a hole-in-one. I learned to appreciate the sport through other video games, but even my passing interest in learning about the different clubs has its limits. Asked if I want to play for a full 18 holes, or even just nine, the answer is usually no, not really. Normal Golf Game seems to understand this frustration and presents itself as an antidote: an environment to sink in and learn about the complexities of golf with a freeform structure that goes deeper than most, but is just as able to pull back with a casual laugh and admit that none of us are experts here. Learning is part of the experience, and you’ll come out of this game with a better understanding of the mechanics, even if you still can’t confidently go a full nine holes.
Developed primarily by Luke Muscat (Jetpack Joyride, Fruit Ninja), Normal Golf Game is different from most golf games in that it’s designed with a lot of passion for the sport, but not necessarily a lot of skill at it. The goal is to understand golf more deeply. This is why the game starts with you waking up in a parking lot and talking to (a fictional) Luke Muscat through a security camera as he explains that you may not remember, but you gave all your money and signed all the paperwork to participate in Luke Muscat’s Ultimate Golf Challenge. Also, your car’s been towed, so there’s no way out. It’s a simple premise that takes away all your earthly worries and puts you in an environment that, for the right person, is a golfer’s paradise. The only way out is to play. You have to earn your money back somehow, right?
If you’re familiar with other series like Mario Golf and PGA Tour and are confident in your 3-Click Swing, you might be interested to know that Normal Golf Game defies control expectations. Here, we have a QWOP-like control scheme where there is minute control over almost every aspect of your swing, from the angle you’re standing in relation to the angle you’re hitting the ball, all the way to the physics of swinging the club itself.
The game recommends playing with mouse and keyboard, but I personally preferred how the 1:1 movement on a swing felt using the right analogue stick (or trackpad) of a Steam Deck. A gentle quarter-circle left and up with even follow-through can generally get the ball onto the fairway, but be careful not to extend the thumbstick all the way to the rim as you swing because you’ll dig the club into the dirt instead.
Some may say this experience sounds maddening, especially early on when you’re expected to pull off a few decent strokes in a row and just keep biffing over and over. A sudden shift of wind at the last millisecond can make all the difference. However, the tradeoff is a level of control that few other games offer. Those moments when the physics begin to click, and you start landing your shots are magical. That first hole-in-one will make you feel like a million bucks and make the twenty minutes you spent dialing it in feel worth it.
The vital key in the control scheme that makes this work as well as it does is the option to instantly restart at the press of a button, no matter if the ball has rolled to a stop, is veering off into a bunker in the air, or the vibes of your current stance just feel bad. Like instant respawns in a difficult 2D platformer, this mechanic makes the difference in convincing you that you can do this even when the odds seem impossible.
Now, as I said before, the overall goal of Normal Golf Game is getting your money back by playing Luke Muscat’s Ultimate Golf Challenge—a simple round of nine-hole golf. While the tutorial will help get your feet under you, it’s likely that once you’re done learning the mechanics, taking on that challenge will still feel impossible. So, as you continue to practice, the game sets up a series of “Bounties,” ranging from the simplest of actions to the trickiest shots you can imagine. There are over a hundred of these challenges, and they serve a dual purpose of giving the player more to do as they teach each and every curve of the nine holes on the course. Beating all the Bounties isn’t required to finish the game, but they are the primary way to earn money so you can get more clubs and, eventually, some handicaps when you feel ready to tackle the LMUGC.
This is an incredibly easy game to sink time into. When the perfect stroke feels close at hand, it’s as if any minute adjustment could be the game changer. I sat in my chair numerous times, my eyes glued to the screen, poring over shots until I blinked and half an hour went by. Or, I would tell myself I would start dinner after I got a few bounties, and I’d look up two hours later with five more under my belt. I have to wonder if this comes close to approximating what high-level golf practice feels like in real life.
Other vital aspects that make Normal Golf Game work are its art style and sense of humour. One of the more endearing elements of this game’s style is that all the humans in the game are there primarily through the use of FMV. Any humans you see, including your hands and the body you see when teeing up, are all greenscreened in. There doesn’t seem to be a specific “reason” for this choice (other than Muscat’s self-admitted lack of ability to do 3D character models and animation — you can learn more about this in a series of making-of videos on his YouTube channel), but it fits in this world where an evil Muscat has seemingly designed this golf course for a purpose. Is it to torture you? Learn from you? It’s only clear at the end. However, the snappy writing portrays a tone that is constantly helpful, if a little malevolent. As if one day it could lead you down a dark alley, but it probably won’t. AS LONG AS YOU KEEP PLAYING GOLF.
While I have a lot of respect for the solo-gamedev-with-limited-contractors grind, I will admit I did feel a small amount of disappointment when I learned this was only a nine-hole course. Yes, the Bounties kept me plenty busy, logging almost nineteen hours before I saw credits. However, in a corner of the course there’s a giant sign that teases that Holes 10-18 are coming approximately in January 2028. This filled me with a bit of envy, but also made me think: given that the structure of the game is currently based around nine holes, will it be rewritten to account for the other nine? Or might the other nine be a DLC continuation on par with the base game? I suppose it could be a sequel, but that feels like the least satisfying conclusion because a normal golf course has eighteen holes and this is a Normal Golf Game. A sequel can just be a whole new course.
Normal Golf Game is by no means an Early Access title, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s the first half of something larger. I’m left with a game I really like that has great mechanics under the hood and a story that plays itself out naturally, but with this one major drawback, it still feels a little simple, plain, and unfinished. This should not necessarily be read as a negative to prevent you from checking it out, but all the same it might have been better to not erect a giant billboard to say more game is coming because it feels like an apology. Putting it in the ending or after the credits would have made more sense.
Most modern sports sims don’t appeal to me because they’re generally so serious. They drop you into a suite of options and mechanics and expect you to make the best of it. Normal Golf Game has a point of view in that it’s about learning the game, getting good at it, and gently roping the player in so that maybe, if they have a passing interest in golf, this teaches some things in case that interest grows. It’s not just beginner-friendly; it’s a way to open up a sport that can feel impenetrable and make it approachable, the same way Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater blew the doors open on skateboarding for a whole new generation. I hope more sports get their Normal Golf Game equivalent. If I can selfishly ask — can the next one be for ice hockey? Please?
Normal Golf Game was played on Steam Deck using a code provided by the publisher.
