Meadow Mini Golf

Meadow Mini Golf is a cozy 3D mini golf game played on toy-like courses built from clay rails, felt greens and little props. The goal on every hole is the classic one: get the ball into the cup in as few putts as you can. The camera frames each hole at a slight three-quarter angle, and the V key or the eye button shows the whole hole whenever you want to plan your route.

To putt, pull back from anywhere on the screen, pick your line and let go. The further you pull, the harder the putt, and a dotted guide shows the first stretch of the roll, including the first bank off a rail. Finish in par or better for three stars, one or two over par for two, and any finish for one. After ten strokes the ball is picked up. Every hole was played through by a solver that uses the game's own physics, so each one can be finished and each par can be beaten.

The campaign has 126 holes on seven courses of eighteen, and every sixth hole is a longer challenge hole. Meadow Green teaches bank shots, blocks and hills, Windmill Farm adds turning sails, sand traps and hay bales, Harbor Bridges brings water, plank bridges and drawbridges, Carnival Loops has loop-the-loops, bumpers and boost pads, the Clockwork Garden has sliding blocks, turnstiles and gates, Frosty Peaks adds ice, snow and ramp jumps over crevasses, and the Lantern Isles at night add warp pipes to everything else.

Some tips from the courses themselves. Rails and blocks bounce the ball like light off a mirror, so a bank shot is often shorter than the direct path. The arrows on the felt show which way a hill pushes the ball. Sand slows the ball a lot, so putt a little harder through it, while ice barely slows it at all, so putt softly. Water costs a stroke and sends you back to where you putted from. Loops and ramps need speed, and a slow ball rolls back or drops into the crevasse.

Stars and coins carry over between sessions. Coins, with a bonus for a hole in one, buy ball skins, trails and flags. A Daily Round serves three fresh holes every day mixed from all the courses, with a day streak to keep. Holes are short and self-contained, so the game suits short breaks, and it plays with a mouse, keyboard or touch on phones, tablets and computers in any orientation.

Get the ball in the cup in as few strokes as you can. Set your aim and power, watch the timing of moving parts and use the rails for bank shots. Press V to see the whole hole before you putt.

Stars and coins carry over between sessions. Coins buy ball skins, trails and flags, and a Daily Round serves three fresh holes every day.