Is there any more crowded field in videogames at the moment than “roguelike deck-builder”? Just seeing that descriptor is enough to make me lose interest—I do rather enjoy the genre, but they’re so far past the point of oversaturation that the mention alone makes me feel tired. But there’s one way to make such a game get my attention, apparently: mix it with minigolf. Enter Golfie, a roguelike deck-builder minigolf game that’s hitting Steam Early Access on May 26.
Strange mash-up? Certainly, but one that could work. As the announcement describes it: “Each run requires strategy, planning, and skill by building unique decks which can unlock incredible new ways to play. Card powers can vary from increasing the distance or elevation of a standard shot, through to out-of-this-world abilities and power-ups which can be combined to dazzling effect. But be careful: finish over par or fall into traps and players will lose energy – and once it’s totally depleted, the run is over.”
Golfie is the first game from Triheart Studio, a husband-and-wife indie studio based in Copenhagen, with Yogscast Games publishing. It enters Early Access with a singleplayer campaign, Daily Runs, individual seeds that each have their own leaderboard, and—once a full 18-hole course has been completed—and endless mode. Community feedback will help the evolution of the game through it’s EA phase, but some of the new features already in the pipeline are online multiplayer, new cards and abilities, and new hazards to putt around.
“Golfie is unlike any golf or deckbuilding game you have ever played,” says Simon Byron, Director of Publishing, Yogscast Games. “It’s been a real pleasure working with Triheart Studio to create something so uniquely enjoyable that it defies comparison. Some of the shot combinations during the public playtests have been eye-poppingly joyful – elements of skill and chance combining to create nothing you’ve seen in a golf game before. I’m really, really looking forward to seeing what players can do when the game launches in a couple of weeks.”
Golfie brings its roguelike minigolf action to Early Access on May 26, priced at £14.99 / €17.99 / USD $17.99, with a 20 percent launch discount.