Golftacular! Is Out Now on Xbox With Chaotic Mini-Golf Items and Puzzles

What we know

Golftacular! is available now for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Xbox on PC for $9.99. Both Good Games describes it as mini-golf only to a point: conventional shots are joined by items that can reshape a route, create shortcuts, or disrupt other players.

Matches support up to four turn-taking players, who can choose from a cast of characters. The studio highlights abilities including portals, airstrikes, ball wings, and Run and Jump, which gives players direct control of their ball to walk and jump for five seconds. There is also a pass-and-play option, alongside a solo mode built around puzzles.

Turning familiar obstacles into unusual solutions

Both Good Games says it began with recognizable mini-golf components after studying physical and virtual courses. The team categorized recurring challenges and obstacles, including sections requiring accurate aim, ramps where power and incline matter, and spinning mechanisms that mix skill, timing, and randomness.

Courses were first laid out as 2D prototypes, then turned into basic playable versions before playtesting. Those sessions helped the developers identify obstacles that could become frustrating in a turn-based game. Very steep slopes, for instance, could send a ball back to the bottom and leave a player waiting an entire round for another attempt.

That led to a key part of Golftacular!'s design: turning a hole's problems into items that offer ways around them. Early Stop lets players halt their ball whenever they choose, including in mid-air. The studio says the process worked in reverse as well, with items forcing changes to courses in order to curb overly strong skips. On an early course, the starting platform had to be moved farther from the cup because a portal could send players straight to it.

A mode built to teach players how to bend the rules

That back-and-forth between course and item design resulted in Puzzle Mode. Its opening levels teach standard golf mechanics before introducing items, secrets, and skips, including ways to score a “hole in zero” without hitting the ball.

Later challenges are built around particular item uses and combinations. Both Good Games says the mode also let it test ideas outside the usual mini-golf framework, such as extending Run and Jump long enough to create a 3D platforming level within the game.

The release includes dozens of handcrafted courses and thousands of possible item combinations, according to the published details. For players, the game is not solely about judging angle and power: success can also mean spotting another route, using an ability at the right time, or making the course harder for opponents.