On September 21, Luke Muscat released the PC (Steam) golf game *Normal Golf Game*.
Is the tutorial already a challenge? A golf game where you adjust everything from your swing length to the clubface angle
This title is a self-described “ordinary” golf game developed by Muscat, known for *Fruit Ninja* and *Feed the Deep*. Although the player has no memory of it, they end up playing golf to pay a $100,000 fee due to a contract they signed a few days ago.
The game recommends using a mouse and keyboard: adjust the direction and clubface angle with the keyboard, and swing the golf club with the mouse. To hit the ball to the target location, you must skillfully balance the strength of your swing with how far you extend your arms.
In addition to a tutorial covering all the finer points of control, the game also requires players to engage in unconventional gameplay—such as “hitting a sign”—even outside the golf course. The game features a meta storyline in which the player is kidnapped by a mad game designer and forced to play golf.
To escape the course, you must satisfy “Mr. Luke Muscat.” Incidentally, the Luke Muscat who appears in the game does not seem to be a fictional character—he appears to be the real person.
The production methods for this title are also peculiar—for instance, live-action footage was recorded because there wasn’t enough in-game footage. Steam news and videos released after the launch revealed that, due to the demo going viral, the team had to overcome an enormous amount of hard work to finally release the full version.
However, the developer appears to be suffering from something akin to burnout; the title of one video even reads, “The game is finally out. I’m done with this.” The developer stated that they cannot keep repeating this cycle with every release and are trying to recover physically and mentally, but also mentioned that localization is one of the things they’d definitely like to do.
They believe that without flawless English text to begin with, there’s little chance of achieving a decent localization. While this is just speculation, it may take some time for localization to become a reality.
For some reason, *Normal Golf Game*—which is also available in a bundle with *Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy* (commonly known as “Pot Man”)—is currently available on PC (Steam). The standalone game costs 1,350 yen, but until October 6, it’s on sale for 1,080 yen—a 20% discount.
￥26,500
(価格・在庫状況は記事公開時点のものです)
