Hello to all you crazy roguelike fiends,
We love roguelikes as much as the next guy or girl, which is why we made Cursed to Golf. It’s a golf game for those that want a bit of randomized hellish masochism thrown in for good measure. I guess our twisted idea has worked, as the powers that be over at Valve have seen it fit to include Cursed to Golf in the Going Rogue: A Festival of Persistence… festival. Well, we couldn’t be happier to be a part of it, AND it gives us yet another chance to plug our lovely DEMO, yay! So please, download the demo if you haven’t already and start smacking some balls, you will feel better. Probably*.
We’ve always described Cursed to Golf as a Golf-Like in reference to one of the genres we have been inspired by. So in celebration of this festival, I’m going to dive into those ‘Rogue’ elements that make Cursed to Golf so brutally addictive.
Randomness?!
Don’t we all love randomness? That feeling that no run will ever be the same because fresh stuff will pop up in new and exciting/infuriating ways. That thing you tell yourself every time you start a new run: “This is the one. This run will go well, praise be to the RNG.” We can’t get enough of it. So in Cursed to Golf, you’ll start every run with some Ace Cards and a randomly ordered 18 hole course of beautifully hand-crafted levels/holes. Yup, we did not procedurally generate the holes, I just designed a ton (over 70?!) and gave them all a difficulty rating that scales across 18 holes, so that we can keep the challenge going all the way to the end and randomly pick from a pool every time you start a fresh run. We figured out pretty quickly that randomly generating a fair and completable golf course is not a good idea 😅.
Ace Cards
Every roguelike needs some loot and Cursed to Golf is no different. You get money of course, but what do you spend it on? ACE CARDS, of course! These nifty cards allow you to turn the tide back in your favor. Scattershot, Rocketball, TNT, U-Turn, Ice Ball, Practice Shot and a load more. They all serve to give you a chance to conquer the trials of Golf Purgatory. You start your run with a small selection, then as you earn cash, buy booster packs at the Eterni-Tee shops, and you’ll also win some based on your performance on each completed hole. Use them wisely.
Death
Ain’t no way getting around it, death is a prominent feature in roguelikes. In fact, in our one it’s so prominent we made it part of the story. After a fatal and fateful accident, you’ve landed yourself in Golf Purgatory and the only way to ascend out of there is to complete the devilishly difficult 18 hole course it houses. What happens if you fail? Well, you get sucked into a death vortex and spat out back at the beginning, losing your progress on the current course, your money and your Ace Cards in a loop that goes on forever until you succeed. Damn, that’s a tough break…
Bound by Persistence
Persistence is needed in any endeavor to succeed. And let me tell you, you’ll need persistence to beat Cursed to Golf. However, I’m not talking about that kind of persistence. I’m talking about what persists in between your runs in order to give you an edge. Say hello to the BINDER, this handy dandy little thing allows you to store Ace Cards. If you die, head back over to your nearest Eterni-Tee, open up the Binder and you can access whichever cards you happen to have stored there. It’s a crucial component in the long game. Pro Tip: You may want to do a few dummy runs to stock up on cards and put the best ones in the Binder until it’s full. Then die and take them all out ready for your ‘real’ run as you take on The Scotsman.
And there we have it, a fun little dive into the roguelike elements of Cursed to Golf - a ‘Golf-Like’ adventure where every shot counts™. If you’ve enjoyed the Cursed to Golf Demo, share it with your friends and family also please consider adding it to your wishlist here on Steam! ❤️
Thanks again and we’ll see you on the leaderboard!
Liam & the Chuha Labs Team ☺️
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1726120/Cursed_to_Golf/
*Chuhai Labs and Thunderful are in no way responsible for how better or worse you may feel after playing Cursed to Golf or its demo. Especially if you suck at the game.