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Magic Golf (Free) by Qwiboo is a miniature golf game featuring a cute rabbit and stages that feel like a magical toy box. If you enjoyed games like Super Stickman Golf 3 and Vista Golf, then you may get a kick out of Magic Golf as well.

I'll admit it now — I'm not a huge fan of golf, at least regular golf. I find it boring and slow, personally. However, when you bring up miniature golf, I'm all ears! There's something about these cute mini courses that makes me want to pick up a club and take a swing, even though I can either be lucky or terrible. I think it's the puzzle aspect of it. However, I don't often go out for mini golf, so I usually get my fix through games. The Super Stickman Golf series is one of my favorites, but I'm always eager to check out other mini golf games too. So when I saw Magic Golf, I was enthused to pick it up.

Free

Super Stickman Golf 3

Noodlecake Studios Inc

Free

Vista Golf

Shallot Games, LLC.

Graphically speaking, Magic Golf is definitely pretty to look at. The game's rendered in 3D and it's full of bright and vibrant colors that are appealing to the eyes. The various stages feature what looks like a children's playroom, complete with all sorts of toys and gadgets laying around on the textured, wooden floor. On the courses themselves, it's easy to recognize the different types of obstacles that await you, as well as where your rabbit ball can actually go. Animations are smooth and fluid, so I had no issues with lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. The music is rather whimsical and it's all completed by the cute sound effects. Like Qwiboo's other games, Magic Golf is definitely aesthetically pleasing and charming with sound design.

Like most mini golf games on the App Store, Magic Golf is level-based, with thousands of levels from just the developers. In addition to the huge offering from Qwiboo, Magic Golf has a level editor so players can create their own stages, and then submit them to the rest of the community to download and enjoy.

In the regular mode, players must go through each stage chronologically, as the next level does not unlock until you clear the one before it. Up to three stars can be earned on each stage, and the objectives change up every so often. Stars can be earned by completing the stage in a number of specified strokes (par), collecting all of the golden carrots, or finishing before time runs out. Besides the par and countdown, you can play the game at your own pace if you don't care about being perfect with stars.

The level editor allows you to create your own stages, and they can be either "Collect the Carrots" or "Time Attack" mode. You construct your course by putting together varying course tracks, corners, and obstacles together as your heart desires. Then top it off with some decorations. Once you're satisfied with your creation, you can go live with it after naming it and giving it a theme.

Controls in Magic Golf are simple and intuitive. To hit the ball, just pull back on it and aim. An arrow behind the ball indicates the direction you're hitting it towards, and the arrow color changes from green to red depending on power. Then just release your thumb to hit the ball. When it stops moving, that's when you can hit it again. You can also swipe anywhere on the screen besides the ball to adjust the camera angle, in case you need a better view of the course.

While these controls work, I think it could have put the trajectory arrow in front of the ball, rather than only behind. That way it could be easier to aim and see where the ball is actually going to go. Right now, you can only see it from behind, and it doesn't go far enough for you to know where it ends up. I've missed a few pars because I was off by a nanometer or some other ridiculously close measurement.

However, since Magic Golf is a free game, there are limitations to how much you can play at a given time. After every five holes, there's a chest with a timer before it can be opened. This also prevents you from accessing the next five holes, at least until the chest is opened. You can use purple gems to unlock the chest early, or watch an ad to shorten the timer by thirty minutes.

While there are in-app purchases for gems and costume tokens, there's no way to get rid of the ads or timers before getting the next set of holes to play. This is annoying and feels a bit greedy, which is disappointing.

On top of all of the levels that you can play in the game (after waiting a while or paying), there are also costumes that you can unlock for your rabbit. Unfortunately, you need a certain amount of tokens for three rarities (common, rare, and epic) before you can pick out a costume. These are purely cosmetic, and don't affect the gameplay itself in any way. If you don't have enough tokens, you can also buy the costumes through in-app purchases.

The maker of Aqua Globs, Ball King, and Bike Baron has a new mini golf game.

The Good

Magic Golf is a cute golfing game that would appeal to both adults and kids alike. The graphics are bubbly and endearing, the sound is fun, and the gameplay is simple yet challenging. Controls are natural and streamlined for the most part, and there are a ton of levels to get through. Plus, having a level editor means the chance to see the creativity from others.

The Bad

While I wanted to like Magic Golf a lot, there's just too many flaws that prevent it from being good. It's rather annoying that I can't accurately see where the ball will end up, and it's messed up a lot of my strokes so far. Having the aim trajectory arrow in front of the ball, rather than behind, would help out a lot.

The game feels a bit too greedy with the implemented timer system. It's just ridden with timers to advance in stages, along with free chests. And with no option to get rid of the timers and ads, pushing players to get more gems to progress, is just irritating. And with there being thousands of levels, it's a bit of a letdown to only see seven costumes available.

The verdict

There's a few nice things about Magic Golf that make me want to like the game. As an avid fan of adorable things, the visuals and sound design are done well and make the game friendly enough for the whole family. The stages can be straightforward or challenging. And having a level editor opens up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to stages. But all of the good is tainted by the greediness of the timers and the push towards in-app purchases, with no option to just get rid of timers and ads altogether. I wanted to like the game, but this current version just feels like a cash grab.

6.9

OVERALL

Graphics 8

Sound/Music 8

Replayability 6

Game Controls 6

Gameplay 6.5

FREE

Magic Golf

Qwiboo Ltd

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Dandara ($14.99) by Long Hat House and published by Raw Fury is a distinctive metroidvania platformer that's unlike anything you've played before. If you enjoy games like Kraino and Goblin Sword, then you'll fall in love with Dandara.

Last year at GDC in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to check out an early build of Dandara on iOS and even Nintendo Switch (before it came out). When I sat down and tried it, I knew that this was something magical, as I've certainly never seen a metroidvania platformer with such uniqueness before. And as someone who became obsessed with 2D Castlevania series games during high school, I can definitely appreciate a good metroidvania game when I see it. And Dandara does not disappoint — it's well worth the cash.

Free

Kraino

Angel Dorantes

$1.99

Goblin Sword

Gelato Games Ltd

Visually, Dandara has a classic, pixel-perfect aesthetic that takes me back to my childhood, where I'd play games like Super Mario Bros. and the like. The retro, 2D pixel art style in Dandara is a blast from the past and looks like it came straight out of the '80s, especially with all of the bright, vivid colors. Even though it's pixelated, everything in the game is incredibly detailed, from shading to textures. Animations are smooth and fluid with no lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. Since the game relies heavily on quick thinking and reflexes, the steady frame rate is necessary. The ambient, atmospheric soundtrack is subtle and adds another layer of depth to the game, and it's quite enjoyable to listen to. Overall, Long Hat House did an excellent job with the visual and audio design of Dandara, making it a sure keeper.

Since Dandara is a metroidvania style game, that means players progress through a series of connected rooms. These rooms contain plenty of traps, obstacles, and enemies that you'll have to get past in order to explore and move on to the next room. In the case of Dandara, players will be traversing through one giant world called Salt.

But what is Salt? It was a world where peace thrived, and ideas became more than just another abstraction. But all of this transformed into oppression and isolation as Salt took away the freedoms of its own citizens. Fortunately, there is one ray of hope left, and her name is Dandara. The ultimate quest is to battle the oppression and bring back freedom and balance to the world of Salt.

In Dandara, players can only jump to navigate around Salt, but it's rather gravity defying. Dandara has the power to jump on walls, floors, ceilings — you name it. However, she can only land on the white spots, so while the movement system defies gravity, it's still limited, making it all the more challenging for players. The virtual joystick in the bottom right corner lets you aim your reticle, and if it's green, you can release and Dandara jumps to that spot. The camera angle shifts when necessary, making it easier to orient yourself with the changing perspectives. When she's at a door or chest, just move the joystick towards it to open.

But again, there are enemies that will make sure you don't succeed, including tough bosses, so there's combat in addition to the special jumping mechanism. In the bottom left is another virtual joystick that lets you aim your gun and shoot upon release. It takes about a second to charge up though, so timing is everything, especially in later areas.

If you have a MFi controller, the game has full support for them. It's seamless, and some may prefer physical controls for a game such as this one. However, the touch controls are optimized well, so I had no issues with them.

Dandara starts out with only three hearts, so when she takes a hit, it depletes a heart. If all three are out, then it's game over. However, there will be campsites scattered throughout the world of Dandara, and if you find these, they pretty much act as checkpoints. You can continue after your dead, and the game places you back at the last campsite you discovered. A ghost-like sprite is left in place of where you died, but unfortunately, you do not recover items when you pick up your ghost. Knowing this, it gives you more of a reason to, you know, not die.

Fairly early on in the game, you'll find the Map item, which shows you where you've already been. This is useful in not only helping you not get lost, but also going back and revisiting areas where you couldn't progress because you were missing key items or mechanics. Even though it's a metroidvania platformer, there are plenty of puzzles that you'll need to solve to get into every nook and cranny of Salt.

Dandara takes your idea and expectations of a metroidvania platformer and turns it upside down with a fresh new experience.

The Good

Dandara is a bit pricey for an indie iOS game, but this is definitely high quality. The pixel art graphical style is top-notch and looks amazing. The music is atmospheric and a delight to listen to, so make sure you have some good headphones on while playing this one. While most metroidvania platformers are very similar to one another, Dandara separates itself from the pack and offers a completely fresh experience. And with the unusual gaming mechanic, the controls are streamlined and optimized for the touch screen, and having physical button support is an excellent addition. The world of Salt is huge, so it emphasizes exploration and keeps you coming back.

The Bad

While Dandara is a great game, I was a bit surprised with the price. Usually, when a game ends up on multiple platforms, including mobile, the iOS or Android prices are usually cheaper than consoles. However, Dandara is $14.99 across all of the platforms it's on (iOS, Google Play, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam). For an iOS game that isn't from a big company like Square Enix (most of the old Final Fantasy games are this price range), it may be a tough pill to swallow.

Fortunately, I bit the bullet and think Dandara is well worth the price. I'm also considering getting it on my Nintendo Switch later on.

The verdict

I'd been looking forward to Dandara ever since trying it out almost a year ago, so I'm ecstatic that it's finally available. It's proven to be well worth the wait too, because this game is superb in every aspect. The visual style is gorgeous, the sound is delightful, controls are intuitive and streamlined, and the mechanic is different but satisfying. I know it's early on in the year, but this is a contender for game of the year for me.

Dandara is available on the App Store as a universal download on the iPhone and iPad for $14.99. You can also get it on Google Play, Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.

9.5

OVERALL

Graphics 10

Gameplay 10

Replayability 9

Game Controls 9.5

Sound/Music 9

$5.99

Dandara Trials of Fear Edition

Raw Fury

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