Disc Golf Game – it does exactly what it says on the tin!

Type the word “frisbee” into the App Store search engine and you will be rewarded with the choice of at least 23 games. By games I mean fun applications that replicate frisbee sports (disc golf and ultimate mainly) themselves and not the endless scorecards and playbook apps that are prevalent (and quite frankly a bit boring). Disc golf accounts for most of these because it lends itself so well to a computer game. The quality of the games vary but for me the one that stands head and shoulders above the others is the prosaically-titled Disc Golf Game.

What sets DGG apart, for me anyway, is the rating system. I’m currently on 867, a little way behind the big guns in the DGG world. Your rating improves as you progress through the game, particularly in the ‘play round’ part of the game where your top 5 scores on the courses are averaged.

To start with, however, the game only allows you to progress one hole at a time, if you  score par or better on the previous hole. Once you have completed all

9 holes on a course in par or better the fun really starts. It is then that you can “play round” and compare your score with the rest of the world and get a rating. As we all know practice is fine but you can’t beat the pressure that tournament play actually brings.

Along with the rating system there are lots of other great points with this game. The ability to use the points you’ve earned to purchase real-life discs in the game from Prodigy, Discraft, Innova etc that mirror their flight characteristics – I’m currently using the Discmania P2 as my putter (I’m awaiting my sponsorship money as I write this). As well as buying discs you can also use the points gained to improve your skills in the attributes of power, technique and putting.

The physics on this game are impressive: from the flight of the discs, to the graphics, through to the spit outs as my perfectly-flighted approach once again misses out on a birdie through no fault of my own. This is one impressive, immersive game.

There are currently 4 courses available ranging in complexity from Green Hill Course (amateur) to Little Bay (where my current best score is a little disappointing +2) with 9 holes on each course. It’s the third course, Nokia in Finland (+3 and struggling), that I find the most difficult but also the most fun as it mirrors the holes on Europes most famous course.

As with all games though there are a couple of things that need improving. The only throw available is the backhand. Can we have forehands and rollers please? Also the out of bounds areas are unclear. Many a time I have thrown a perfect drive only to find that the slightly darkened green colour on the right is in fact OB.

These are minor quibbles on what is otherwise a pretty-perfect game of disc golf.