Up to Par

Game is very fun but there's way too many problems right now for it to be $20. First of all the game gets WAY too difficult way too quickly. You go from mostly easy 1-2 shot courses to sometimes getting courses that are difficult to hit in 4 shots let alone the 3 you're allotted. The unlock system is also very strange because you need to perform extremely well in order to unlock abilities that make the game easier on future runs. You're also constantly unlocking obstacles that make the game even more difficult when you do perform decently well. You can skill issue me all you want, but it's actually unreal how difficult this game gets sometimes. Some of these courses are nonsensical and unless you have some advanced degree in geometry (which doesn't even work sometimes, the physics tend to bug out a lot) I cannot understand how you're meant to clear them in 3 shots each. REALLY hope this changes because I genuinely like the game otherwise but for $20 I can't recommend it to anyone who doesn't love the existing demo.

[h2] There's a lot to like about Up To Par, with great controls and a well presented mini golf experience, but progression does hamper fun a little. [/h2] [b] Up to Par [/b] is a decent attempt at a mini golf roguelite experience and it begins really well, with enjoyable game play and sensible progression. The problem lies when you get over the hour mark and then the game becomes unnecessarily challenging to the point where you are just repeating the same holes over and over again without any progression. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3348993808 I think the problem lies with the balance between the way elements are added to the courses to make them more difficult and the counter skills you are able to obtain by performing well on course. The better you perform, the more upgrade points you will achieve. Essentially, points are awarded for the number of shots under par you are at the end of a six hole run. Par is three shots for every hole in the game, but you can use shots earned by being under par on other holes. For example, if you are one under on the first hole you will have four shots for the next hole. Sometimes, you may get seven or eight shots left for the final hole if you do well in the preceding holes, but it is your final tally at the end of six holes that counts. You might build up a score of five under and then lose it all on the final hole. These points can be spent on skill upgrades for your next run of six holes. Skills are things like 'gimmies' where three times you can putt in the ball without an extra shot if you just fall short of the hole, or 'pole catchers' where the ball will sink if it hits the pole rather than bouncing out. Later you can unlock things like 'ceiling' which stops your ball from jumping over hills, or 'mulligan' which puts your ball back to where it was played if your ball doesn't go far, and 'bounds protection' which returns your ball to the course without penalty if you go off the course. Some skills are so expensive that they are not affordable after one run and require you to bank your upgrade points and do a run without skills to obtain. These are the sort of skills that will be needed to do longer runs like 'shot estimators' that predict the bounce of the ball and more powerful shots. I did think that the shot estimator was going to be the silver bullet that made difficult courses passable but it proved to be a bit unreliable. There are also upgrades to your ball, like the second bounce being as powerful as the first bounce, or giving advantages in multiplayer sessions, and cosmetic upgrades, like changing your ball into an apple or other comical shapes. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3348929975 As genuinely common in roguelites it will take you a little while to unlock some stuff you can then buy for runs, and there are some unlocks which stay with you permanently, but are more expensive, like extra upgrade slots, or bonus shots for getting a hole in one, so they take a bit of time to unlock too. Once you have got to the point where most things are available you will start doing better on holes, but the skills provided don't always help you on the courses, and they are too expensive, plus by then the courses have become a lot more difficult. The main progression of the game is to complete as many holes as you can without running out of shots, and as you get to a certain hole you will unlock a feature which is added to the course, like a hill, magnet, windmill, drawbridge etc. or you can unlock new courses with different themes. At the beginning it is quite easy to get to hole seventeen for example and you will start to unlock many new features. As these features are unlocked and added to the course, the course becomes much harder and you find yourself only getting to hole seven, and that is not enough to unlock any more features or courses, so you get in a rut of not getting any further. The skills should compensate for the curve in difficulty but they don't really as it is the complexity of the geometry of the course which stumps you and the skills don't help in this capacity. Some of the entry points are incredibly narrow and you have to bounce off walls to enter them too so it is incredibly difficult to judge sometimes. You only have three shots to complete each hole, plus any shots you have banked from previous holes, so any mistakes are severely punished. Once you start adding magnets which suck your ball towards them, and drawbridges or windmills which require timing, then it starts to become very challenging. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3348917158 Some of the skills help in certain areas but then again because you are not doing very well because of the difficulty, you aren't getting many upgrade points, so you can only have one or two cheaper upgrades which don't always help. There seems to be a lot more upgrades but they are impossible to unlock because you will never have enough points. Plus, I was never quite sure what course was going to materialize so I could not plan ahead for the next six shots. If I knew what the next course was going to be, like a course with lots of hills for example, I would buy the 'ceiling' upgrade which stopped my ball from jumping, but generally I just bought 'Gimmies' and 'pole catchers'. The controls are spot on though and it is really easy to take shots and judge the speed and distance when you get the hang of it. The angles seem to be accurate although they don't always have straight lines so sometimes you are relying on bounces or reactions from curved walls. The courses look nice and I love the aesthetics of the game and the music and sound effects. There is also a multi-player option for a bit of fun, a co-op option with a bit of customization, and a weekly challenge with leader boards. [h1]🍳Conclusion🍳[/h1] [quote][h2][b]Up to Par[/b] is an enjoyable roguelite based around mini golf with well presented courses and a good control system which allows for precision and skill. The problem lies with the progression system because the courses become very challenging as you unlock new features, and the shape of the holes are difficult to navigate, and the skill points become harder to obtain to help with the difficulty. I got caught in a rut for a long time and was unable to continue, but I did actually progress after many attempts so I do think perseverance can prevail but then again you need a lot of luck with these narrowly shaped entry points. For this reason I just think the game needs a few tweaks here and there to balance some things out, but I would still recommend it on a sale, as the price seems a little high at the moment. [/h2][/quote] [quote]Thank you for reading my review. If you enjoyed it, please follow[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/] [b]IndieGems[/b] [/url] for more reviews like this one. We also have a [url=https://www.youtube.com/@IndieGems2][b]YouTube channel[/b][/url] if you would rather see game play footage with reviews. [/quote]

I really like this game and I hope the developers continue to update this game to be a $20 game. I agree with other reviews that this should be like a $10 game.

I initially gave this game a positive review, but i've since changed my mind and refunded. Firstly, the game is not worth the price point for what it offers. This partly affects the review outcome as I don't feel that there is enough game content or depth to justify the price. I also feel it needs a lot of polish. There are no real Roguelite elements to this game, it claims to have some elements in the shop but these are super tame and a lot of the time they are quite linear and don't really help you to perform better - that's if you can barely afford them. No perk actually helps you clear holes. I was expecting wacky ways to do shortcuts, larger holes, power-ups or more ways to do chip or power shots etc but these were lacking. Its hard to afford upgrades and the courses get far too punishing far too soon. Some courses in the Timber/Wood biome for example have ridiculously weird corners that you cannot plan a bounce pattern around, and you just have to hope that a disaster of a generated hole can be done in less than 3 strokes when in reality you have no chance of doing it in less than 6 strokes. It doesn't become a relaxing game anymore when you consistently lose on course 2 or 3 with no power-ups and purely because the course just isn't fun or approachable. It isn't fun to hit 7 shots around a course that looks like it was mapped out in Microsoft Paint, it's almost like they went "Hey lets make this weird shape because difficult must mean it's fun to play" - that isn't the case for this style of game. The ball doesn't travel as you might predict, often hitting walls and corners that from first judgement you are sure it wouldn't hit due to the guideline/aim gauge. The ball doesn't really glide across the green and moves more like it is on thick carpet with power shots doing very little, meanwhile the hole physics mean the ball won't fall into holes often unless it is putted with super low power. Sometimes you'll hang on the lip of the hole or pass over it mid-shot and you aren't really sure why it isn't falling in. Co-op was promising as I was able to play with my partner on RemotePlay, but it got too difficult too quickly and we never really got a run going that you would expect in the sense of an actual Roguelite. Soundtrack and art style was nice but other than that it doesn't have a lot going for it at this stage. The game needs a lot of work and I can't justify spending this amount of money when you could perhaps argue that it still needs to justify a mere third of the base price for it's features. I've subbed to the newsletter and hopefully over time the game will improve and get padded out, and I can come back to a new product. Until then, not for me in this state.

[h1]最大16人のフレンドと遊ぶも良しもくもくとプレイするもよし！[/h1] 日本語未対応 対戦プレイが16人まで対応しているローグライク要素ありの ゴルフゲーム タイトル通りパーまでしか許されないので 上手くそれ以下でコースを周回しよう！ ショップに辿り着ければ余ったショット分で能力やスキン ショットの回数などを増やしたりも可能 クリアすればするほど池や傾斜などの要素が＋されていき ステージも自動生成の為、変化があり面白い メールマガジンをゲーム内から登録すると 貰えるスキンが2種ある（人によって種類が違うかもしれないが） ボールの外見の変化も味わい深くていい 戦略性や対戦プレイ、ソロで黙々と遊ぶのもOK ゴルフ系のゲームが好きならオススメしたい [code] Steamキュレーターで紹介しました [URL=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41056472/]「3D酔いでもゲームがしたい」[/URL]　 毎日更新してます！ [/code]

The roguelite aspect is far too unrewarding, especially as the game keeps increasing the difficulty with the addition of harder maps while never making it any easier to buy upgrades, nor actually have any upgrades that justifies the effort of trying to actually save up points, if you're lucky enough to have 5 maps back-to-back that won't easily gobble up your 3 strokes.

Up to Par is such a clean game. I booted up the demo about an hour before release, and found myself refreshing to purchase the full game the minute it launched. The controls are simple and juicy. The procedurally generated courses are varied and challenging. There is some smart design with the physics, such as higher friction for more precise ball placement and a bit of give if you clip the edge of a concave angle. Good shots feel amazing, and bad shots feel fair.

I love the design choices in Up To Par. The devs skip all the nonsense and just throw you into the deep end. No tutorial, no cutscenes, and none of that boring text explaining what buttons to press. You hit "Play" and boom, you're golfing on courses that feel like someone spiked a mini-golf course with caffeine and an identity crisis. The design? [i]Chef's kiss[/i]. It's simple but clean. The way you gradually figure out how not to suck while navigating increasingly weird and challenging courses is a testament to roguelite goodness. Every missed shot is a lesson learned. It’s like real life, except here you can fix your mistakes without a mortgage. You get no hand-holding—just a putter, a ball, and your hopes and dreams ready to be smashed by the cruel mistress that is physics. Now, let’s talk sound design because holy mulligan, it’s satisfying. From the clink of the metal ball to the splat of the tomato ball, it’s a symphony of small delightful chimes. Even the course soundtracks have that low-key charm, like lo-fi beats to vibe and ragequit to. If you’re playing this on mute, you’re doing it wrong. Frustration? Yeah, it’s there. But it’s the good kind, the kind where you know it’s your own fault for sucking at the short game. However, what really grinds my gears isn’t the game, it’s these weak-sauce negative reviews already out there on day one. Look, if your main critique is “It’s not worth $20,” then my dude, what are you spending your money on? You can get a lot less game for significantly more money from any major studio. Go review bomb them instead or as the French say, "meet me at the Wendy's parking lot".

Update, 28-Jun-25: The developer responded this review asking me to give the game another shot now that there have been a bunch of updates, so I did. Despite what they've said in their response, most of my criticisms still stand. I didn't experience the ball randomly bouncing into the air off walls, but all the other physics issues are still around. I can't speak to the path preview consumable because I didn't use it. The variety is still bad, and I'm actually starting to question if procedural generation even exists. I feel like I shouldn't be getting the exact same holes I was 8 months ago. Original review, 29-Nov-24: Severe lack of variety, and what you unlock just makes it harder, like obstacles that block the path that are off sync so you have to take two shots. The physics are inconsistent: sometimes the ball bounces how you expect, sometimes it bounces at a slightly askew angle (which is just enough to screw you), sometimes it magnetises to the wall, sometimes it clips into the wall, sometimes it bounces up into the air, etc. Not to mention the path preview consumable that shows you how the ball will bounce isn't accurate to any of the options above. You start each set of 6 holes with 3 shots with a bonus 3 each new hole, and you unlock permanent upgrades and consumables with the spare shots you have at the end. Unfortunately the best option is using 2 leftover shots to carry over 1 shot to the next set of 6 holes, so you don't really find yourself unlocking much. I can't see myself coming back to this without consistent bounces and a significantly bigger pool of course parts. They don't even have to be that different from what's already in the game, literally just take one of the parts and change the angles of the walls in 10 different ways. Add a hill piece where the hill is only half-wide, or in the center, or on either side, or steeper, or shallower. There's [i]so much[/i] potential here.

I wanted to be able to recommend this, but the FOMO killed it for me. I don't appreciate being forced to play during a specific time of year in order to get a certain item.