Offer me a puzzle game on Switch, and you risk your hand being bitten off. I practically breathe puzzle games, so I was all fore reviewing Golf Peaks right from the tee-off. And I’ll say now, this gem is a hole-in-one.
Golf Peaks premise is surprisingly simple. Every level supplies you with a set of cards which will perform different golf swings, and your goal is to get the ball into the hole. The complexity comes from the various layouts of each hole and the wide range of different tiles you come across. There are nine worlds in total with twelve holes each, making for over a hundred puzzles to journey through, and every world introduces something new to the mix. Tiles can range from simple slopes to bunkers, quicksand, and water hazards to name just a few. Needless to say, Golf Peaks keeps you on your toes.
I’m glad to say you don’t need to like golf to enjoy this puzzler as well. Both my middle-aged parents played the sport, and that was enough to discourage me ever being interested in playing it personally. Fortunately, Golf Peaks ditches the power meters and spin shots of traditional golf simulators in favour of a purely puzzle-solving approach, so there’s no timing required to play. Brainpower is enough to get you through, but if you do find yourself in the rough you can always undo your shots or rewind to tee-off again.
Another thing I’m super happy with is the difficulty curve. I played the whole thing from start to end in a few hours and not once did I find myself getting stuck or frustrated. This is especially impressive considering the lack of any hint system or tutorials. Everything is taught through play and experimentation so getting to grips with the systems is intuitive and fun. Mistakes are a natural part of progression, so if you slip up it’s incredibly easy to simply pick another route and try again, especially with the convenient rewinding I mentioned earlier.
From an aesthetics stand-point, Golf Peaks is nothing ground-breaking, but I did grow fond of the isometric view as I played, and it’s pretty enough to look at. Sound effects and music were nice enough, but mainly there for ambience and feedback when you make a shot. I’m glad to say that it looks crisp in both TV and handheld modes though, and certainly makes for a relaxing experience. I did find it a little small in handheld with some of the bigger levels, but that was a minor trade-off for being able to use the fluid touchscreen controls.
There’s not much else I can say except I loved Golf Peaks. Granted, I love most puzzle games, but Golf Peaks pushed all the right buttons for me regardless. If you’re not a puzzle aficionado like myself, you’ll probably get a bit more playtime out of it than I did. Still, I’ve never been an advocate for basing value solely on playtime anyway, so I absolutely recommend picking this one up if you even remotely like puzzles.
A digital copy of Golf Peaks was supplied for Switch by the developer.
