It's putt up or shut up. 

overview

Walkabout Mini Golf is a Meta Quest 2 VR game, and doesn't really need a story. You play mini golf in immersive environments that feel like they could exist in real life, but they can't. 

There are 8 courses to play for free: 

• Tourist Trap, your classic pirate mini golf course taken to the next level,

• Cherry Blossom, a zen garden full of water features, flowers, and of course, cherry blossom trees,

• Seagull Stacks, a course built on top of a rocky island that looks like it was taken right out of the end of Force Awakens,

• Arizona Modern, a contemporary course built up and around a sandy mountain, 

• Original Gothic, a spooky course built around the grounds and inside a creepy castle, 

• Bogey's Bonanza, a western course going through a mineshaft to a ghost town, 

• Tethys Station, taking place in the middle of space aboard a technological spaceship,

• and Quixote Valley, a quaint little seaside town chock full of windmills. 

Each course has an easy and hard mode. On easy mode, the holes are standard, and there are hidden balls on each hole that you can collect to play with. On hard mode, the scenery changes, every hole gets a twist to make it harder, and instead of collecting balls, you go on a scavenger hunt across the map (a foxhunt, as Mighty Coconut, the producers, call it) to unlock a new putter. 

There are also a handful of DLC courses available for purchase, at about $3 each. They include the easy and hard courses, as well as the lost balls and foxhunt. In short - they are everything the normal courses have, but with a different theme. I haven't played all of the DLCs, but as I purchase and play them, I will review them. 

I'll be reviewing each course and giving it individual scores for the easy and hard mode of that course. I'll also include scores for the foxhunt of each hard mode course. At the end, I'll give an overall product rating. 

Let's begin!

courses

Tourist Trap

If you've ever been to any Pirate's Cove location, you'll have a good idea of what this course is like. Tourist Trap is essentially the best Pirate's Cove you've ever seen. 

Like many Walkabout courses, Tourist Trap is built around a mountain. It's the tutorial map, so it is considerably easier than the rest of the courses. 

The map takes you around the base of the mountain, through a cave, and circles around the top, eventually reaching the peak, before going all the way back down for a spectacular 18th hole. The holes themselves have all sorts of wooden planks and barrels to avoid, but for the most part, they're pretty standard holes, some you might find at a real life mini golf establishment. And, unfortunately, you never actually go aboard a pirate ship. 

My knock for this course is the same grudge I have against Farm at Boda Borg: it's a fine introduction, but compared to everything else the company has to offer, it just doesn't stand out. The hard mode stands out a little bit more for more clever uses of obstacles, and a better vibe when playing at night, but at the end of the day, it doesn't do much better than the easy mode. 

The foxhunt is much better than the actual course. Flying you around the island, it really feels like actual puzzles, something not many foxhunts do. And to top it all off, the end gives you a really cool putter, just making you more excited for what else is in store. There are some better foxhunts out there, though. 

Easy: 5/10

Hard: 6/10

Foxhunt: 7/10

Cherry Blossom

This is easily the most controversial map on the list. My friend loves it, whereas this is my least favorite course. It all depends on what kind of style you like. 

Cherry Blossom is a zen-garden-like course constructed around a river. The art style is very different from many of the other courses, with this one focusing on every little detail and full of color. It's a beautiful environment, and there is some relaxing music to go along with it. 

The issue for me is the design of the holes. They're built in a love or hate way (for me, a hate): the challenge for these courses are that they use almost no walls. You have to putt very carefully and slowly to avoid falling off the green. 

I can see some people loving this design, but I'm not a fan. It takes a lot of fun out of it, for me. That being said, there are some clever holes, such as a plinko-like bamboo hole and a couple of cool jumps. In addition, the courses are well built into the environment. The only issue is when it gets to the actual gameplay. 

To top it all off, the 18th hole has a horrible design: if you mess up one important putt, you have no chance of getting a good score at all. And that's on easy mode. On hard mode, it becomes impossible if you don't get every single putt perfect. The holes are even more difficult, and just not that fun to play. There is cool lighting at night, though. 

The foxhunt is fine. The clues are too vague sometimes, but it's not as bad as some of the other foxhunts I've done. It isn't quite as good as Tourist Trap's, though. 

Easy: 4/10

Hard: 4/10

Foxhunt: 6/10

Seagull Stacks

While easily the most calming course, Seagull Stacks doesn't offer a lot in terms of gameplay. It's set upon a rocky island out to sea, similar to Luke's island at the end of The Force Awakens. The sun is on the horizon, casting beautiful light across the scene. I like to think it's sunset, but I have no way of telling. 

I also have to talk about the music for a second. It's a beautiful instrumental version of a song I forget the name of, but with violins and tubas, it's a magnificent theme that fills you with peace and contentedness. It's easily the best song I've heard in all of Walkabout. 

However, the holes feel incredibly repetitive. There's really no decoration at all, and pretty much every hole has rocky borders, a stone or two to avoid, and occasionally, a puddle or two. 

If you need to unwind for a bit and want to play something relaxing, Seagull Stacks is perfect for that time. But if you're looking for a fun, immersive, and engaging adventure through a themed area, this course isn't really for you. 

Hard mode makes the holes harder, as always, and covers the island in snow. As pretty as it is, it's on par with easy mode. 

The foxhunt for Seagull Stacks is pretty good. Instead of figuring out worded clues, a drawn image appears, and you have to locate that place around the map. Well-drawn clues and engaging landmarks make this foxhunt stand out a little from the others. 

Easy: 6/10

Hard: 6/10

Foxhunt: 7/10

Arizona Modern

Another course built around a mountain, Arizona Modern makes up for its lackluster ambience with cleverly designed holes. It feels the most, well, modern of all the courses - a very abstract map. 

I'm not a huge fan of the vibe. As with Seagull Stacks, there is pretty much no variety of scenery: sand with a cactus here and a flower there. The abstractness comes from the platforms used to move around the map - plain orange, with no interesting features. 

However, the holes are designed well. The developers really thought about clever ways to utilize their tools, and created some neat holes that I've never seen in real life. Similarly to Cherry Blossom, there are multiple holes with no borders, but they seem more manageable when placed at regular intervals between bordered holes. To top it all off, this is the first instance where the green isn't actually green - it's orange. 

I am not a huge fan of the foxhunt for this one either. The main idea for the clues is to locate a hole that looks like a certain shape, and then do that repeatedly for all the clues. Sometimes the clues are very vague, and sometimes it gets annoying. 

The nighttime mode looks better, but not by much. It's not gonna get another point for that. 

Easy: 6/10

Hard: 6/10

Foxhunt: 5/10

Original Gothic

Half medieval, half spoopy (definitely not spooky), Original Gothic has, for the first time in a Walkabout course, two very different halves. The first 9 holes take place around the grounds of a massive castle straight out of Harry Potter. The back 9 take place in the basement / dungeon / something or other chamber of the castle. 

The carpet, again, is not green - it's red, and it entirely fits the mood. The holes feel perfectly designed around the staircases and statues in the grounds. Jumps, axes, and tons of props bring this world to life, and create one of the most fun courses Walkabout has to offer. The developers took a big risk with Original Gothic, and it entirely paid off.

The second half is just as good as the first, if not better. The castle has all sorts of intricate features, and multiple levels. The holes are built around the features of this dungeon basement, and it works so well. 

The hard nighttime mode is entirely a different mood. The grounds are now covered in a thick layer of snow, and peaceful music is playing. When you go down to the dungeon basement, it's all lively now, with lights and strings and music: an unnamed winter holiday celebration! It's just VR magic, and I haven't experienced anything like it. The holes are just as clever, unique, and replayable, if not more. 

The foxhunt for Original Gothic is one of the best in the game, only rivaled by another coming up soon. The clues are incredibly well designed, letting you roam free, explore statues and dungeons, and even travel to some locations you didn't get the chance to explore while playing. It works so well, has so many clever locations, and is just pure fun. 

This is pretty much Walkabout at its finest. 

Easy: 8/10

Hard: 9/10

Foxhunt: 8/10

Bogey's Bonanza

Similarly to Original Gothic, Bogey's Bonanza has two different halves. However, they're not as drastically different at Original Gothic's was. The first 9 holes travel up a mountain, almost untouched by civilization. Except for, you know, the mini golf holes all the way up it. After traveling through a multi-floor gold mine inside the mountain, players emerge out the old service entrance for the back 9, taking place in a modest ghost town. 

The first couple holes are standard Walkabout holes, with a couple of obstacles and some neat designs. But things start to get interesting when you enter the mine. A couple of the course's best holes are in the mine, involving multiple levels, minecarts, and gold, which lead to the second half, the ghost town. This is where the holes become, well, not standard. None of the holes beyond this point would exist in real life, but they work so well in the environment. Balls are hit into a broken water tower, on the roof of a crashed train car, through a saloon that just had a bar fight commence inside it, and directly at the wooden heart of an outlaw. 

Some Walkabout courses seem like the environments are built around the holes. In rarer cases, like Bogey's, the holes are built into the environment. I think I prefer this design style. 

To be perfectly honest, the hard mode is a lot more manageable. It's quite sunny during the day, and having the hard mode take place at night is a relief to the eyes. The holes, as always, have a clever twist, but there's not much thematic difference than the easy mode. However, there is a completely revitalized eighteenth hole, which is leaps and bounds better than the easy mode's eighteenth. 

The foxhunt is slightly better than your average foxhunt. It's your standard "look around the map for this thing we're describing" foxhunt, but it's nice to go back through the environments. This one likes to take you back to the most intriguing portions of the set. 

Unfortunately, it all falls apart at the final clue. After getting pretty much no cluing, I came across the worst answer to a clue I've ever seen in Walkabout. I was shocked that a clue from a pretty good map could be this bad. The final clue alone has to drop the foxhunt's rating down at least 1. 

This was my third or so map I played of the game, and at the time, it became my favorite. However, after seeing some of the other maps the game has to offer, it's not the best. It's still a solid map, don't get me wrong, and better than offerings like Tourist Trap or Cherry Blossom. It just didn't blow me away like Original Gothic or some of the upcoming maps. 

Easy: 7/10

Hard: 8/10

Foxhunt: 7/10

Tethys Station

This was the final main course I played in the game (that means before I bought DLCs). It's on par with Original Gothic (that means it's gooooood). Taking place aboard a space station in the middle of an asteroid field, Tethys Station completely changes everything you know about Walkabout. 

There's four courses that I adored in this game (oooooh foreshadowing). This is obviously one of them, but I adore it for a completely different reason than the other three. Original Gothic has charm. It's magical in so many different ways, gives you such a cool vibe, and makes bold moves. Tethys Station, on the other hand, has four things going on at once, introduces about twenty new ideas to the game, goes in and out of spaces seemingly at random, but in a way that makes sense, and is a drastically different map from all the rest in the fact that it 100% cannot exist. 

Tethys Station takes place aboard a space station in the middle of an asteroid field. Sometimes you'll be on top of the asteroids, on the outside of the space station, or maybe inside it at times. Mighty Coconut uses sounds and lighting to its advantage in this course. 

The holes are very well designed, as well. Walkabout fully succeeds at their "jump shots", when you hit a ball and bounce around off the green. The developers sometimes like to stick to certain types of holes, so it's always fun when you see a unique design, and Tethys was filled with them. 

It's very rare that a foxhunt has a cohesive story, but this one sure does! Aliens have made it aboard the ship, and you have to find all of their eggs to eradicate them before the station is overrun. The clues are well put together and actually let you explore outside the areas you went in the game. It's a very good one. 

Easy: 8/10

Hard: 8/10

Foxhunt: 8/10

Quixote Valley

The second-to-last course I played in the game was nothing incredible. It was just some quality mini golf in a nice environment. Quixote Valley takes the biggest icon from mini golf - a windmill - and makes an entire course out of it. A seaside valley (you guessed it) looks out over the ocean, windmills all over the land. 

Quixote Valley introduces a brand new concept to the game: wind. It seemed like it would be a cool idea, but for some reason in this environment, I'm not the biggest fan (haha get it?). Another course coming up uses wind, but somehow, it feels more bearable. In this, however, I'm not fond of it, especially when if you don't hit the ball at the perfect power, you go back to the start. 

The environment gives strong Shire vibes from Lord of the Rings. Putting up hills and through houses with circular doors, it seems like Walkabout might have based their course on that environment. The valley itself is quite calm and quiet. It's a pretty relaxing environment with a little more going on than Seagull Stacks. 

The hard mode takes place at night, with strings of lights illuminating the dark. It looks better than the daytime mode, but at the end of the day, neither of them are that memorable.

The foxhunt is a good one, having you prepare for the valley's annual Flower Festival. Things go wrong and you're sent many places looking for roses, finally getting a new club that looks like, you guessed it, a windmill. 

Easy: 6/10

Hard: 7/10

Foxhunt: 7/10

El Dorado

Our first DLC on the list, El Dorado is a fantastic trek through a jungle to find an ancient city. After seeing the trailer for this course, I knew I had to get it, and for $2.99, it did not disappoint. 

El Dorado takes place in a lush jungle full of plants swaying in the wind, massive stone statues, and all sorts of equipment used for finding the lost city. The map is a relatively normal size, but due to clever uses of rock, vines, and moss, it feels a lot bigger. 

The holes are built into the course. This is another course where it feels like the developers built the environment before the holes, and it works so well. Many are built around the massive stone statues, involving them in different intricate ways. Giant monkeys will eat your ball, you'll roll out of a massive toucan's mouth, and if you hit too hard, you could fly out of the mouth of a giant lion (or hippo, I can't tell). 

The vibe of the course continues through the entire game. The jungle is massive, with explorable areas even outside of the holes. After traveling along a river, you enter a massive valley, lake in the middle, jungle all around, with a massive hippo/lion overhead. Eventually you'll reach the temple, finally make it to the top, and end your game. Unfortunately, you never actually find the city of gold. I guess that would be too hard to pull off. 

The night mode is incredible. With a new feature and a beloved old one, it's a crazy experience. El Dorado takes the rain from Original Gothic Easy and completely reworks it, transporting players to an incredibly realistic thunderstorm. Flares are lit all along the course, adding fog, a new element for Walkabout that will hopefully be repeated. It's an incredibly built course with amazing theming. 

The foxhunt, unfortunately, doesn't quite live up to the course itself. It's a fine foxhunt, but it's nothing special. It's your standard look-for-this-picture foxhunt. However, the rest of this fantastic course makes up for it. 

Easy: 8/10

Hard: 9/10

Foxhunt: 6/10

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is the best Walkabout course I'd seen yet. Topping this DLC course is likely impossible. Walkabout took the most unique parts of each course (wind, fog, moving parts) and completely reworked them to make probably the best video game I'd played yet.

It all starts with a cutscene, something Walkabout has never done before. You're in a tiny submarine pod in the middle of the deep dark ocean, approaching the massive Nautilus. You draw alongside and dock the pod on the side of the ship. Doors open, allowing you to finally enter Captain Nemo's infamous submarine. This is before the game even begins. 

Starting in the control room area, with navigation, the steering wheel, and periscope, you putt around the course while looking at the amazing scenery. Walkabout really minded every little detail on this course. You can explore the entire ship, even parts that don't have holes in them. Out of the countless windows on the ship, you can see the ship traveling through the deep ocean, darkness everywhere around it. The wind is back, but this time, coming out of pipes, it's a lot more manageable and a lot less annoying, partly due to the fact that they don't make you replay the hole every time you mess up. The carpets are different colors depending on the room you're in. Sometimes they're red, sometimes they're purple. The blueness of the ocean actually reflects through light into the sub, adding a whole new level of realism. Everything mentioned so far is discovered by the player before you even get to hole 4. 

As you go through the Nautilus, the sets never stop impressing. A massive lounge area has room for many holes, sweeping around the many organs and couches, the engine room has gears and machinery grinding as you putt between pipes and over moving bridges, and the diving bell is occupied by a massive squid, tentacles flailing, a beak ready to swallow any unfortunate victims. The holes love to be unique, with multiple secret compartments and Rube Goldberg machines, including a particularly memorable one in the kitchen area. There's truly nothing like 20,000 Leagues, and honestly, there probably never will be. 

The hard mode loses some of the charm of the original course, but it's still in a cool environment. The Nautilus has crashed, right over a deep-sea volcanic trench. It's narrowly avoided some depth charges, but the whole ship is in a state of disrepair. The holes aren't necessarily worse, they just all feel like the original magical holes, but broken down. The real letdown is the fact that the magma's light is shining through the ship, feeling like sunlight, and the sub doesn't feel underwater anymore. It's still an outstanding course, it just doesn't feel as special or magical as the original course. 

The foxhunt is a really good one, but quite short. It follows an unnamed character who realizes Nemo's intent to trap him/her there, and escapes through a diving bell in the bottom of the ship. It has fewer clues than an average foxhunt, and I found myself wishing it had lasted a little longer. However, it's a strong one, with some fun puzzles and designs not seen in any other foxhunt so far, and the club is one of my favorites. 

Easy: 10/10

Hard: 9/10

Foxhunt: 8/10

Labyrinth

overall

Walkabout Mini Golf redefines what mini golf can even be. A lot of companies are pushing the boundaries on mini golf. Walkabout pushes that boundary even more. With a plethora of fantastic courses, it's easily one of the best purchases I've made in my life, and for $14.99 for all the main courses, plus an extra $2.99 for each DLC (which includes the easy and hard modes), it's a better experience for less money than your average VR game. (Plus, it's on sale like every other week.) With a loving Discord community, fantastic gameplay, and well-made social features, it's no wonder Walkabout is the #1 multiplayer game and the #4 game overall on all of VR. Get this game as quickly as possible, and start putting! 

rating

9/10