Vertiginous Golf
By Christy Matte,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Colorful, quirky golf puzzler has dark story, iffy controls.
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Vertiginous Golf
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What’s It About?
VERTIGINOUS GOLF invites players into a strange and mysterious world. After working through some initial tutorials, players can enjoy a variety of courses, each one more convoluted than the last. They are multilevel holes, spanning numerous floating islands. You'll find hills, spinning discs, fans, ramps, moving walkways, and all manner of obstacles standing in your way. You can fly your clockwork bird through the course to try to find the best path, but coming in under par will take practice and patience. Some courses allow for use of a putter or a special chipper, while others allow you to rewind an incorrect stroke. There's also multiplayer and a level editor for players who want to create their own courses.
Is It Any Good?
Vertiginous Golf has a lot going for it. The holes are like works of art, and there's a silly fun in competing against friends with the odd assortment of "weapons." The story may be difficult to follow since it's told by different characters in a formal manner over dozens of individual broadcast points. Unfortunately, the controls may not feel intuitive (and may be nearly impossible for some kids), since some obstacles require frustratingly exact aim and power. It's possible to end up in locations you can't escape from, requiring that you restart the hole (while retaining the strokes you've already taken). In Story mode, you can easily miss a checkpoint that's nearly impossible to return to. You can keep playing, no matter how far over par you end up, and the creative holes are engaging so long as you have the patience to work through the challenges. The game editor is tricky to master, but the bonus is that there's a steady supply of community-created content to enjoy. With that and the various multiplayer options, there's a lot of replay value for those who enjoy this sort of quirky puzzle game.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the two distinct societies in Vertiginous Golf are similar to and different from groups in our society.
Discuss technology. How does it help us? Are there ways that it hurts?
One of the broadcasters has a surprise identity. What would people be surprised to know about you?
Game Details
- Platform: Windows
- Subjects: Math: geometry, Science: momentum, physics
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: hypothesis-testing, solving puzzles, strategy, Creativity: developing novel solutions, making new creations
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Not available online
- Publisher: Surprise Attack
- Release date: May 21, 2015
- Genre: Puzzle
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy
- ESRB rating: NR for No Description
- Last updated: August 24, 2016
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