How to play
GOLF ORBIT is a one-button golf game. Instead of a hole, there is a long chain of tiny resort islands, each one a little round planet with its own beaches, grass and sea, floating against a bright postcard sky. You hit the ball as far as you can along the chain.
Press Space (or Enter) or tap once to lock the angle as the arrow swings, then again to lock the power as the meter fills. If you stop the power meter on the dashed sweet spot, near the top of the meter, you get a PERFECT shot with 15% extra and a moment of slow motion. Once you have bought the Pocket Rocket, tapping while the ball is in the air fires a boost. M mutes.
The ball bounces and rolls over everything it lands on. The run ends when it comes to rest, stops moving forward for a few seconds, or drops away below the islands. The distance is your score.
Tips and strategy
- Use the pull of the islands. Each island has gravity of its own, which reaches out a few times its own size and pulls the ball in. A shot that looks too low can be bent round onto the next island; a shot that skims past one gets flung on.
- Learn the surfaces. The sea skips the ball along, like a stone on a pond, and barely slows it. Sand soaks up the bounce and drags hard. Grass is in between. The giant beach balls send the ball off faster than it arrived.
- Go for skips. From the second sea skip in a row, every skip pays a bonus starfish. A lower, faster shot tends to skip across water, while a high lob drops in and stops.
- Chase the extras. Floaties, the rings hanging over some islands, give the ball a big shove in the way they point. Starfish come in arcs across the gaps and are your coins.
- Save the rocket. Fire the Pocket Rocket when the ball is about to drop away or stall. It pushes the ball forward and slightly up, whatever way it was going.
- Bigger gaps later on. The gaps between islands grow over the first 4,000 m, so upgrades matter more and more the further you get.
What's in it
An endless chain of islands with a new zone every 350 m, each greeted with a postcard stamp. There are twelve zones: Tee Island, Coral Key, Mango Atoll, Papaya Point, Lagoon Nine, Hibiscus Reef, Coconut Cay, Sunset Shoals, Pelican Isle, Driftwood Bay, Marlin Rock and Far Horizon. The sky warms towards sunset the further you go. The islands come in many sizes, and the beach balls start turning up after the first 200 m.
At the end of a run you are paid the starfish you picked up plus one more for every 5 m you went. Spend them on five upgrades; each level costs a little over half as much again as the one before:
- Driver (12 levels): 12% more launch power per level.
- Spring Core (12 levels): a bouncier ball.
- Aero Dimples (12 levels): less air drag, so the ball keeps its speed in flight.
- Starfish Magnet (10 levels): pulls in starfish from further away.
- Pocket Rocket (5 levels): one mid-air boost per run for each level.
Behind the game
The ball flies under two kinds of gravity at once: a gentle pull downwards, and the stronger pull of whichever islands are nearby, which fades out with distance. That is where the name comes from. A good drive can swing round the edge of an island like a tiny orbit before it lands, and two islands close together can pass the ball from one to the other.
Every island has a wavy outline, and its height at each point decides the surface: low points are sea, the band just above is sand, and the high ground is grass. Each surface has its own bounce, grip and rolling drag, which is why the same shot can skip on for 50 m or die in a bunker. The Spring Core adds a little bounce to every surface, but the beach balls stay as wild as ever.
The angle arrow swings between steep and flat, and the power meter rises and falls smoothly, so the timing is about rhythm rather than luck. The camera pulls back as the ball speeds up, so you can see where a big shot is heading.
Questions
Do I need an account?
No. Your starfish, upgrades and best distance are saved in your browser.
Is there a hole to get the ball in?
No. It is a long-drive game: the further, the better.
What is the best upgrade to buy first?
The Driver is the cheapest upgrade and adds distance to every shot. The Pocket Rocket costs more, but it can save a run that is about to end.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes, held upright. The whole game is tapping.
Does it flash?
No. There is a little screen shake on big hits and bounces.