I’ve played a variety of games on VR but the one that my family keeps coming back to is the smash hit Walkabout Mini Golf. It’s miniature golf powered by all the possibilities of virtual reality. If you thought Holey Moley was creative, that’s nothing compared to Walkabout. Play golf on a space station, in an evil villain’s lair, in Shangri-La, underwater in Atlantis, and many other cool places, with new DLC courses coming out regularly.
Since we’ve spent hours on it, I thought I’d put together a tier list of the courses we find the most fun.
Best of the Best
Arizona Modern: This course is wonderfully designed with a lot of fun shots and good mechanics. As you’d expect from the name, the style is clean-cut and the desert setting perfectly evokes this. Besides the precision shots that challenge you to really take your time, there’s a deeper level of trick shots bouncing off rocks that you can attempt. Like Tourist Trap this is one of the courses that is closest to real life mini golf because there are no impossible mechanics or fantasy settings. I keep returning to this course because putting together 18 well-shot holes is a consistent, enjoyable challenge.
Quixote Valley: If you’ve been to a mini golf course in real life, you’ve come across a windmill. I don’t know how that got started but it’s a very common obstacle. Celebrating that in this course is marvelously done, and then to introduce the wind mechanic on top of it is just…chef’s kiss. Although the wind mechanic is reused later in other courses, I think it’s best expressed here. Beautiful setting in the mountains and sheep you can go visit, too. Solid course design and a relaxing place to play a round.
Shangri-La: Superb design and the introduction of the sand mechanic. Lots of long shots, and who doesn’t gaze in amazement at the lanterns in the sky on night mode. It really does feel you’re in a Himalayan monastery, dipping in and out of buildings and walking along impossible bridges. A couple of the holes are more hope-and-prayer…to be honest, I prefer more straight-forward finely-angled shots, whereas Shangri-La has a number of holes where you putt without really knowing where it’s going to land. Still, the breath-taking ambiance more than compensates.
Temple of Zerzura: Ancient Egypt! Play in the desert and in the temple, with ponds and Egyptian statuary throughout. The hard mode “haunted god lights” are a fantastic touch. Some cool angley holes and some tough long shots, though also some that seem a bit guesswork (or maybe I’m not good enough yet). I like the variety in this course and the feeling that you’re in 3,000 B.C.
Atlantis: Golf meets scuba diving. Love the Greek mythology, the plant life, and sea life. Very good hole design with excellent music. It really does give the sensation of playing under water. All of these elements come together very nicely, and with the way the statues and ruins dot the seascape, you get the sensation you’re in Atlantis…or at least, you’ve fallen into a fish tank where someone has arranged some pet store “marble” ruins. I just love hanging around this course I’m always happy to come back to it.
Alfheim: This gorgeous course feels exactly like what I imagine a golf course in Rivendell would be like. The polished wood lining the holes and the sunlight treescape surrounding them blend together perfectly. This is definitely a thinker’s course, where you’re often presented with the option to go for a hole-in-one or take an easier route. It’s easy to make a slip up and then get three strokes behind, but that makes well-executed play all the more rewarding. I love both the setting and the course design, and this is definitely one of the game’s top tier playing spaces.
Laser Lair: So aggravating! But I have to give big points for interesting game play and that insanely cool soundtrack (which is a sort of Goldfinger lounge). Fun setting that references everything from James Bond to The Incredibles, with some very nice 1960s design touches. The holes are very challenging and I think this is probably the most difficult course on the list. I would have appreciated a second mechanic to contemplate the laser theme which gets a little monotonous, but overall, Laser Lair is brilliantly executed (and a total pain!)
Above Average
Tethys Station: Lego space station! The feeling of being alone in space is very intense, and of course you’re going to fly off to visit Saturn. A lot of innovative holes, though some patterns became common later. This feels like Dark Side of Moon, or driving around the lunar landscape of Battlezone. The sense of being alone in the vast expanse of space is engrossing. And there’s fun golf, too! There’s a couple frustrating holes (that bio lab – ugh!), but overall a lot of solid play here and quite a bit of challenge.
Gardens of Babylon: Good angly design and I enjoy the ancient city setting. Many other courses have limited views because you’re up against a mountain, inside a building, underground, etc. but in Babylon you can see for miles over a vast city scape. It feels like a stroll on the set of the Ten Commandments or something. This is a very solid course and also a fun setting to explore.
El Dorado: Tough course! This one took me a minute to par, due to the broken terrain and non-obvious relationships between holes and pipes. But it has a great Indiana Jones esthetic, with mist and lightning, jungle treetops and far-off waterfalls. The “overgrown temple” design is very pleasing and there’s a good mix of difficult bounce shots and straightforward angles. Great concept and beautifully executed.
Journey (to the Center of the Earth): The last hole on this course nearly made me put it one category up because it is such an awesome scene from the 1959 film. I love “Vernian” tales and Journey evokes a lot of tropes from the book, movies, and subsequent lore. From the opening scene where you’ve climbed down a rope to the abandoned equipment to the Vernian Easter eggs, it’s a lot of fun and has great atmosphere. I think the water mechanic is a bit under-realized and there are some holes where bouncing down rocks or through mineshaft trays seems a bit repeated from earlier holes. Still, I greatly enjoy this course.
20,000 Leagues: Evocative, near perfect design. This really brings Captain Nemo’s ship to life, including the sea monster wrapped around it (and in it!) I like the course design and the way it snakes through the ship’s compartments. The vacuum-tube mechanic does what a new mechanic should do: introduce a new playing surface in a way that is both intuitive and challenging. Lots of moving parts and mechanical problems to solve make this a fun course I loved instantly.
Still Really Good
Tourist Trap: The original course! A very solid 18 holes, though inevitably it suffers in comparison to later courses where there are new mechanics and exotic designs. I do like the “pirate mountain” feel of it and the holes are well designed. Nothing wrong with this course, though today it feels a little bit “basic”. This one actually feels the most like the miniature golf you might play in real life.
Original Gothic: Wonderful setting, and the night mode Christmas theme is delightful. Very 1940s Universal haunted castle ambiance without going off the rails into horror. The setting really is what you’re enjoying here, as the holes are not all that inspired. Famed YouTuber Inner Princess noted that many holes are hole-in-one-able, driving a quest for ever lower scores. A fun place to look around, soak up some ghostly atmosphere, and have a nice round of golf.
Sweetopia: The setting reminds me of Katy Perry Sweet Treats and I find it rather unappealing. However, it is a well-designed set of 18 holes, so if you can see past the candy canes, gum drops, and syrup-drenched pancakes, there is actually a fun course here that we’ve played many times. And the night/hard mode music is so awesome! We’ve played it just to vibe out on the cool lounge groove. I wish we could take the holes and music and put it in a different setting that didn’t look like a first grader’s fantasy diet but I can’t deny it is fun to play.
Widow’s Walkabout: Very nicely designed, with all the haunted house tropes and some really cool Easter eggs. Be sure to look out the telescope and check the connection between the dining room painting and the lighthouse. I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of other Easter eggs. Also bonus points for the way the miniature shows all the ghosts inside the house. A lot of novel mechanics such as the moving holes. The tone seems uneven to me, where you’ve got ghostly plates moving like something out of Disney’s Haunted Mansion but also guillotines and axes. To be honest, this isn’t one my favorites because some shots feel more luck- than skill-driven, but I can appreciate the excellent design.
Myst: This is the one I’ve played the least so my opinion might evolve. Front and center are the puzzles, and I was pleased to get sub-par on my first outing, which proved that the puzzles did not get in the way of the golf. The puzzles are fun, and pleasantly are not just “one time solutions” but rather problems you need to integrate into your shot selection. I’m not sure how much they really add to the experience as puzzles but as new hole designs I think they are very well realized.
Meh
Cherry Blossom: This one is sort of Tourist Trap meets Shangri-La, though I think either of those two courses are better. I enjoyed Cherry Blossom until I played Shangri-La, and then I realized that the art design and course construction of the latter was far superior. So if I want to experience Zen-like beauty, I’m more apt to head to the Himalayas than Japan (and this is doubly true on the hard/night mode). That leaves Cherry Blossom as kind of a “meh” for me and a kind of reskinned Tourist Trap.
Seagull Stacks: This is a great challenge, because the rocks ringing the holes give you random bounces. This demands not only a higher level of play but also the ability to recover from shots gone awry. I like the setting but it’s not as impressive as some of the other ones. There are some beautiful arches and water areas to explore but it just does not excite me, especially compared to later courses. To be honest, I also am not fond of the rock bounces. If I’m playing with precision and controlling me shots, interjecting a random element is kind of jarring. Then again, this might increase the replayability for others.
Bogey’s Bonanza: I never found the hole design that interesting. There’s some neat “hit it in the water tower and it rattles along the train, etc.” moments but also some “we put random Western objects on the course for you to putt around” holes that don’t seem very inspired. This course feels like there was a meeting where someone was making a list of what kinds of courses they could do, “Old West” was suggested, and a designer went to tick off all the major trope boxes. It almost reminds me of a game made from a movie, where there are certain things you have to include but it’s more about being “an Old West course” than doing anything novel with the material.
Upside Town: I full acknowledge the unique gameplay on this hole, the awesome city setting, and the wonderful jazz soundtrack. There’s a lot of new mechanics and new things to try, and it’s fun to move from the “just arrived” subway setting through buildings and up into streets and roofs. But I don’t enjoy the golf part very much, mainly because I’m cranking my head around to take a shot on the roof or shooting for a hole around a corner that I can’t see. This is probably a love-it-or-hate-it course, as some people will find that the new mechanics are engrossing but I personally don’t enjoy this one.
Meow Wolf: I just hate the setting. The garish colors, the random weirdness, and the sometimes confusing puzzles don’t appeal to me. I’m sure some will find it a refreshing change of pace but to me it’s like a bad Dr. Suess book or a children’s fantasy book from another culture that I don’t get. I like the Tron hole but otherwise it is not my cup of tea.
Around the World: Vertigo-inducing at times. Well, nearly all the time. This course is almost like Richie’s Plank meets miniature golf. After the first few holes set inside the Eiffel tower, I feel constantly like I’m about to plunge to my death. I didn’t think the hole design was particularly good. The appeal is being high up in the Eiffel tower, and standing on the edge of eternity while putting. A course where the design got a bit ahead of the golf in my experience.
Have Not Played
Labyrinth: Originally we were going to slowly add courses and savor them, but they were just so much fun that now we have them all except this one. Trying to hold off but I’m sure we’ll succumb soon!
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I enjoy writing technical articles here on LowEndBox to help people get more out of their systems. You can find me on LowEndTalk @raindog308
Totally lacking in decent reviews on the web. This review is as bad as it gets as Arizona Modern was my least favorite course so far. Bland desert background and boring geometrical designs makes for the dullest experience of all.