LudumData

Dante's Mini-Golf by braktheman

[raw]
made by braktheman for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

Escape the depths of Hell with a rousing round of mini-golf!

Welcome to a modern day retelling of the classic Dante's Inferno!

Mini-golf your way through the nine circles of Hell in this fiendishly difficult game that you can play right in your browser!

Can you escape?? This game is extremely difficult. You have been warned.

Highly recommended to play using the full-screen button in the bottom right corner. It will make it easier to line up shots and in windowed mode the shot tracking tends to get a bit glitchy if it leaves the window.

Controls:

Hold the Left Mouse Button and pull backwards to line up your shots. M to mute audio.

Created with: Godot 4.4.1, Aseprite, Bosca Ceoil Blue, Audacity

screenshot1.png

This is my third ever solo submission to Ludum Dare and my first time taking on a project of this size in about a year. Feeling a bit rusty, but learned a lot this year!

Would love to get advice so please feel free to leave me whatever criticisms you have in the comments!

Note: Had to make a small version update to the HTML5 release to fix one single (but rare) game breaking bug where the ball could get permanently stuck in a movement state. No features were added! Keeping it as pure as I can.

Link https://braktheman.itch.io/dantes-mini-golf
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/dantes-mini-golf

Ratings

Overall 741th 3.061⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Fun 639th 3.073⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 703th 2.805⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Theme 420th 3.707⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 754th 2.683⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Audio 530th 2.671⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Humor 225th 3.392⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Mood 681th 3.15⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Given 40🗳️ 69🗨️

Feedback

dstoc
08. Apr 2025 · 03:05 UTC
Yay, another golf game! Pretty solid, a fun but frustrating experience.

> This game is extremely difficult.

Yes, yes it is. I'm not sure I have the patience to ever finish this game. Also wow, the penalty for failing, wow :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
slow chaz
08. Apr 2025 · 17:46 UTC
wow so difficult! I love mini golf games, this was really fun to play. Great art style too!
shores
08. Apr 2025 · 17:51 UTC
Love it, actually felt like I was in hell while playing this! Going all the way back to the tutorial every time? Now that's EVIL! Love it. Thanks!
vangrail
08. Apr 2025 · 17:52 UTC
very good mood, it is frustating to play, but I think it is the purpose. Good variety of levels! Though we have been playing this together with friends and is very humorous
Disvent
08. Apr 2025 · 17:53 UTC
Great tutorial! I love how the first level teaches everything clearly. Not a fan of how slow the ball moves, and restarting from the very beginning after losing is a bit frustrating.
Keith Wang
08. Apr 2025 · 17:53 UTC
Wow it is difficult. I really love the level changing animation.
sirblazealot
08. Apr 2025 · 17:55 UTC
A fun game! I made it to the fourth circle. I think the penalty of being reset all the way back the the beginning is a lot but the gameplay is cool and I might be back to try to get out!
LDJam user 336851
08. Apr 2025 · 18:33 UTC
Holy moly this game is so difficult, managed to make it to greed but got swiftly bounced back to treachery, but the game plays well and the theme is very well implemented.
Alopar
09. Apr 2025 · 15:30 UTC
Oh, that's a pretty interesting multidimensional view of golf. I really liked it, but it's too difficult already at level 3. It's easy to fall off before the start. 👿
Tugaryn
09. Apr 2025 · 16:18 UTC
It's very cruel and funny when you fall from one level to three levels down at once thank you
The sounds are a little annoying, but I think that's the intention.

The idea is cool, it was fun to play but difficult.
Didn't make it to the end. Sorry.
Well done!
🎤 braktheman
09. Apr 2025 · 17:16 UTC
@tugaryn thanks for playing anyway! The game is premised around difficulty and challenge and frustration which I know is not great for the jam feedback process. I only know of three confirmed finishes thus far. It’s a shame most people won’t see more than 30-50% of the content but I knew that going in!
ScoobySnacks
09. Apr 2025 · 19:46 UTC
Hard as fkkkkk lol
binroot
09. Apr 2025 · 23:28 UTC
Falling in each level takes to back to the previous? That's so cool! I don't think I've seen that mechanic before in a golf game. Nice work!
LDJam user 243929
09. Apr 2025 · 23:43 UTC
Made it to level 3 and it was fun but I won't lie, the difficulty alongside punishing resets made me quit afterwards. But I knew what I was going into and I really appreciate what I've seen!

The ball physics are satisfying, and the visuals - as simple as they might be - do the job and remind me of indies-before-indies on niche game dev forums circa 2008. That's a compliment, I swear! :smiley_cat:
cammyrnn
10. Apr 2025 · 03:14 UTC
Damn sent back to the beginning when I fell. :(

Funny and classic golfing game though, reminds me of playing Kirby's Dream Course a little bit.
D0vid
10. Apr 2025 · 14:25 UTC
I got to level 5 and my ball fell all to way to level 2, I am now very angry

How many levels are there I wonder ? I might come back later and try to finish it :D

Good game, well done !
pickens-inc
10. Apr 2025 · 15:24 UTC
At first I was thinking, "huh, this isn't toooo difficult" especially when I felt like a pro for getting Fraud down in 3 strokes first try, and then I got to Heresy, fell off, and went all the way back to the first level! Aha. This is super clean and playable, but something not a lot of folks are mentioning is the music. It was a bit grating in the first level, but when I got to the second and realised it was being added to? Well, I have a huge affinity for music that develops with the gameplay, well done for that. Going back and doing levels again isn't my thing, but I think it's a fun idea you could explore - imagine courses with extra things and such, inaccessible except by carefully mentally mapping it and then falling off in later levels in order to access them. With some careful planning it could somehow end up a kind of labyrinthian, open world mini golf game? lol. Either way, I thought this was a nice solid entry. Difficult is right! I got to level 5 too.
🎤 braktheman
10. Apr 2025 · 15:52 UTC
@pickens-inc thank you for noting the music! It’s something I was really proud of that most people probably won’t notice. It isn’t a pleasant soundtrack and I added the mute button for that exact reason, but every floor more or less adds instruments.

Unfortunately it was majorly compromised and had to be changed for the HTML5 version but in the editor itself it seamlessly fades from one track to the next and I had a fun time coding that. Never tried it before! It was a lot easier than I expected!
Perovic2018
10. Apr 2025 · 18:17 UTC
Cool game!the creature reminds me of Asuras from Hinduism) no wonder its so hard and truly chaotic!
LDJam user 385997
10. Apr 2025 · 18:50 UTC
Fun game! The multiple layers and the falling mechanic is a really cool idea. It’s not too difficult if you take your time—but I got impatient and ended up falling from level 8 all the way down to 2 :anguished:
t-pirozzini
10. Apr 2025 · 18:51 UTC
Great solo submission! I made it to the 4th level, but got a bit annoyed getting teleported back to the previous level and then being placed in a rough spot haha - was that by design? I suppose it makes sense as we play through the "Depths" of hell! As others mentioned, the ball moves a bit slow - doesn't quite feel like a mini golf ball would. I loved the art and style and can see the care that you put into the game! Thanks!
LDJam user 399564
10. Apr 2025 · 18:57 UTC
Nice game! the graphic is simple but the game is really fun
swordguy47
10. Apr 2025 · 19:04 UTC
Fun game! Love the crunchy pixel art and audio. I wish there was some sort of mechanic to help line up shots / gauge how far the ball is going to go - I think this would help a lot with how frustrating some of the later levels can get haha.

The layered soundtrack is also a really nice touch - was pleasantly surprised when I got to level 4 and could hear a noticeable change in the music. Made me want to keep playing -- until I fell all the way back down to level 1 in one go, lmao
Alex Niemeyer
10. Apr 2025 · 19:11 UTC
This is the golf game from hell, in a good way! It really felt like I was playing the mini-golf version of getting over it. I wasn't able to finish it, However, as a sound guy, I thought it was a nice touch to add more instrumentation as you ascended.That added another layer to the jam theme. With the visuals and the sound choice for the instruments, it really reminds me of the DOS/ WIN95 Shareware era of games. Overall, pretty neat game!
Houmgaor
10. Apr 2025 · 19:13 UTC
I like the idea of falling in depths of hell while golfing! The mechanic of going back to (possibly) several levels adds a lot of challenge, especially at lower levels!
Stronf
10. Apr 2025 · 19:20 UTC
beaten the game in 187 shots, was about to quit after I fell from level 4 to level 1, but then somehow made a clear run through all levels (i think i got lucky with edges like 5 times, so thank you for that). Level 9 is quite anticlimactic after the previous ones. The humor and theme are great, the artwork deserves the Museum of Modern Art. In terms of gameplay i especially liked the red arrow - it clearly shows whether the line is straight or there are any curves - it made the game a bit easier for me. Great job and great entry, although I wouldn't want to play it again >)
🎤 braktheman
10. Apr 2025 · 19:50 UTC
@stronf congrats I think you are the fourth confirmed finish that I know of! I figured I'd give people a break at the end because the original sketch I had was just not going to happen in time and I think in original design the people would have rioted. It was tempting to pull a bridge break I will say.
silkworm_sweatshop
11. Apr 2025 · 17:34 UTC
Reminds me of a minigolf game I remember playing in the 90s or early 2000s, especially with the music track which really sounds pulled from that era (love it!). I got greedy in lust even though it was one of the easier levels and got sent back to the start so I sadly didn't finish :sweat_smile: . Maybe some additional mechanics or obstacles specific to each circle of hell could be added.
🎤 braktheman
11. Apr 2025 · 17:57 UTC
@silkworm-sweatshop thats good progress! The original plans did have moving cardboard cutouts of enemies, sand traps, and blowing fans on timers, but just didn’t get around to it!
Sylf
11. Apr 2025 · 18:40 UTC
I was doing the SMALLEST strokes, but still lost! The face of the Devil in the end is extremely annoying, great job haha :D
ljol3
12. Apr 2025 · 04:13 UTC
My friends and I always appreciate a golf game, but I can only fall from level 4 to 1 so many times before I have to stop.

I also like the graphics, sound, and setting.
eloc
12. Apr 2025 · 04:14 UTC
Completely cursed in the most charming way. Awesome. Loved the graphics, sounds, and music a lot! I fell on level 4 and it spawned me IN THE LAVA on level 3. unforgivable. Props 2 ya
Jahwffrey
12. Apr 2025 · 04:22 UTC
Good god I hate it and made it very far but gave up on frustration on level 7. Really well done, and it's strange chiptuneish beeping with occasional rumbling was great.
JonasOlsson
12. Apr 2025 · 22:39 UTC
Wow, this is a difficult but really nice game! Nice simplistic progressive music that adds at each level is cool. The mechanics where you fall back through the levels is cleaver but frustrating, but then again, this is hell so what the hell did I expect? Nice entry, well done!
Stratcat66
13. Apr 2025 · 15:13 UTC
Quite hard. First I was annoyed by the music, but after a few levels I started to like it somehow (my only friend in hell)
Tsaot
13. Apr 2025 · 17:27 UTC
You made a very convincing hell out of minigolf. This is hilarious and I love it.
Potatobrain
13. Apr 2025 · 21:17 UTC
nice entry! somtimes its hard to see what is a obsticle what is abyss and where can you play. Could be nice to take a second shot faster with a cooldown so the waiting time is not as long, but that could be just me ^^
AnnaBella T
17. Apr 2025 · 03:19 UTC
I love me a minigolf game, I think this was made with spite and hatred. Excellent job.