House of Golf 2 preview: Proof is in the putting

I've always had a soft spot for golf games - especially those that add a bit of flavour into the mix - so I was definitely excited to dive into Starlight Games' House of Golf 2.

It's easy to understand the appeal from the get-go, as you're thrust into the miniature-style household courses that are very reminiscent of games like Micro Machines, It Takes Two, and 2022's Tinykin. On a personal level I also easily recalled memories of playing the golf minigame in Stuart Little 3: Big Photo Adventure - although I'd be surprised if that resonated with many beyond myself.

In a short preview session lasting just beyond an hour, I got to try out the tutorial and the first three courses, and despite some minor clunkiness, I had a great time with what House of Golf 2 had to offer.

Variety of courses

Arcade-leaning golf games are certainly not a rarity, with titles like Golf With Your Friends and Cursed to Golf proving popular in recent years. There isn't anything wildly 'new', per se, about House of Golf 2 but it strives to creatively craft many challenging courses.

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Things start out fairly simple with a few obstacles along the way and a tight squeeze or two, but quickly ramp up once you're outside the safety of the tutorial. Countless moving parts, big gaps you need to clear, and multiple routes to catch you out mean that careful planning is needed to get through every level.

Thankfully there's a fantastic free-cam mode that lets you explore each level as much as you like, and I very much took advantage of this to meticulously plan my route.

This also helped in finding hidden shortcuts that were frequently dotted throughout the level. If played right these could easily cut two or three shots off your total, soaring you from a boring par to a wonderful eagle. The sense of risk versus reward was very present here, as it wasn't always the best option to risk messing up your shot count - but when it worked it was so satisfying.

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You'll also want to watch out for gold medals dotted throughout each level, which when touched unlock new balls for you to use. These are, as expected, often off the beaten track - requiring you to pull off heroics in order to cram them and a good score in the same run. You can always go back into levels that you've already played to improve your score or pick up items that you've missed though, which really enhances the sense of replayability.

Sport for slugs

One of the only aspects that let House of Golf 2 down though was the slightly clunky feeling that permeated much of everything that you do.

Precision aiming is as important as ever in a game like this, so the implementation of a slower and ramped turning sensitivity is good, in theory, as it lets you be precise in the micro and quick in the macro.

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However, this oftentimes feels sluggish and restrained, making lining shots up more difficult than it would otherwise be with a standard sensitivity. I didn't find this enough of a detraction to really hurt my experience, but it was a frustration that made most shots feel quite annoying to properly line up.

The opposite can be said for the power meter though, which is wonderfully intuitive in how it acts. Not only does it memorise the power level of your previous shot - removing the frustration of trying to gauge relatively different shot powers, but it also has an easy-to-read scale that translates well to the actions in-game.

Final Thoughts

From my short time playing House of Golf 2 so far the best thing I can say about it is that it was just really fun. There are some issues I had with how it feels to play sometimes, but overall I had a great experience, and I'm excited to dive into more levels when they become available.

It's nothing revolutionary, of course, but sometimes all you need is a quick jaunt to the miniature golf course in an imaginary kitchen to whack some balls into some holes - with a few inevitable obstacles along the way. It's something I can imagine being great on Steam Deck too, as the short nature of sessions is perfect when you've got a spare moment or two.

Previewed on PC. Preview code provided by the publisher.