In Cursed to Golf, you are a champion golfer mortally struck by lightning who tries to golf their way out of hell. It’s a great spin on the roguelike, as you have to clear 18 holes on a demonic series of courses or be doomed to a Sisyphean nightmare of putting greens.

The game is laid out like a side-scrolling roguelike, with randomized holes, items, and rewards, though you only move when hitting the ball rather than making use of traditional platforming. The maps are wide and multi-levelled and you have to get your ball down to the hole within a set number of swings, lending a satisfying puzzle element to the whole affair. Do you use the iron and take a couple extra swings on the safe route, or break out the driver and power your way past the pool of water ahead? You have five swings per hole, but there are destructible trophies on the map to increase that total. Power-up cards ease the burden as well, giving you more swings before failure, or letting you take practice shots and the like. Some of them get really crazy, making the ball multiply or change direction in mid-flight.

The cards become essential as the difficulty ramps up. New biomes – there are three primary regions, all with their own themes and obstacles – increase in complexity, providing ever-escalating challenges. You’ll want to amass as many cards as possible to stand a chance. It beats the heck out of losing all your progress, as a full run can actually take quite a while. The time to finish a hole generally increases along with the complexity, and the boss holes can run especially long.

Luckily, the longer you play, the more comfortable you’ll feel with each club – they all have different power levels and functions to master. This will allow you to breeze through the early holes. The randomisation that comes with a roguelike can burn you, but generally the game is quite forgiving, and is fun enough that it engenders the roguelike feeling of “one more run”.

The game nails just about everything it sets out to do. The pixelated graphics are vibrant and varied, the writing is witty and macabre, and the music is fantastic – albeit repetitive. All aspects of the title come together harmoniously, creating an unexpectedly fun and funny roguelike with a refreshingly unique premise.