What the Golf?

The rules of golf are simple and haven't changed much in the last few hundred years -- you whack a tiny ball across a large field in hopes of getting it in a ridiculously small hole. These are basic rules that anybody can follow. Well, that is anybody except for Triband, the Denmark-based developer behind the new game What the Golf? This is a wickedly clever and unpredictable take on the centuries-old sport that combines the fun of avoiding water hazards with the speed and humor of WarioWare. It's not only one of the funniest golf games you'll ever play, but it's also one of the best games of the year.

What the Golf? is madness. Utter madness. It's a game where you test out dozens of experimental holes, most of which have very little in common with the real sport. This is not the kind of game where you hit a ball into a tiny hole. In fact, you're only occasionally hitting a golf ball at anything, and landing in the hole is seldom the goal. You're much more likely to be hitting a soccer ball around the greens, or driving a car, or moving furniture, or sticking to the wall as a slime ball. Like I said, it's madness.

Thankfully, there's order to all this insanity. What the Golf? is split up into a bunch of test areas where the different stages all have a specific theme. There's a track and field area where you'll carry the Olympic torch, shoot arrows at the target and ride a dirt bike. The outer space area will have you hitting around planets and getting used to the gravitational pull. Another part of the lab will test your rhythm with stages based on Simon Says and Guitar Hero.

Speaking of which, you'll find the facility littered with holes inspired by popular games. We get a number of stages that mimic Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Portal, Arkanoid, Angry Birds, Katamari Damacy and more. Some of my favorite levels are golf-related parodies of 2016's breakout hit Superhot, complete with guns you can wield. What's impressive is how What the Golf? will not only look the part, but it will also use those game's defining feature to change the core gameplay.

And that's true even when it's not trying to goof on a popular game. What I love about What the Golf? is its unpredictability. You never really know what you're going to see next or be asked to do. If you think that this is a game about making it to the green, then think again, because sometimes it's about getting hotdogs out of a vending machine, racing around a golf-themed track, bowling with a cowboy hat and shooting colored bottles. There are times when it's 2D, 3D and even bits presented from a first-person perspective. You can try to anticipate what's coming next, but it's a losing fight. The developers are constantly one step ahead and twisting and turning in ways you'll never see coming.

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It helps that there's a lot of content. You'll quickly discover that each hole has three different challenges to take on, which ultimately leads to you earning a little crown. Sometimes the challenges will be more difficult versions of the original hole, but most of the time it's the developer playing with the formula or trying to mess with you. I love their constant trolling and found the whole experience hilarious. And what's even more impressive is that it never becomes stale. I was sucked into the game so much that six hours of my life snapped by in no time. It's not that I couldn't put down the controller, but rather that I never wanted it to end.

This is one of those times when simply gushing over What the Golf? doesn't seem like enough. All I want to do is show you one great moment after another, but I also don't want to spoil the variety and unpredictability that makes the game so much fun. From the graphics to the humor to the music, I love every part of this game. I mean, I want to be fair and list out all of its problems and imperfections, but I can't. About the only thing wrong with What the Golf? is that it's not available on every platform that sells games.