Table Golf Association ‘Meeple Beach’ Edition Kickstarter Review

Those who have seen my previous review on the Table Golf Association: Pro Edition know that I love this game. It brings all the fun of Golf, and it’s mechanics, to an accessible, portable, and convenient tabletop format that can be enjoyed solitaire or with a group of friends. Now this new edition is coming out, and it puts a whole new tropical, beachside spin on the game, while being completely compatible as an expansion of the previous edition. We’ve got sands, relaxing looking coastal environments, and more. But don’t be fooled: with this chill and novel environment comes all the competitive and satisfyingly frustrating engaging gameplay as before- now with more hazards then ever! It’s a great spin on the classic game, and I recommend you all check it out.

The rules are pretty much like before. It takes a few minutes of setup, but then you’re all ready. The already minimal amount of time is well worth it though, because this game like the previous version is very customizable. There are a large multitude of preset courses you can choose from, and when you’re ready to brave new waters, you can use the game’s tile system to build your own courses or use community-designed courses. You can experiment a lot to try new things, and if you have previous editions of TGA, it only dramatically increases customization ability as the tiles from previous versions are all completely compatible. Mix and match to create your perfect course.

You will need to decide which mode you want to play in. There are two. Standard TGA, and Pro Rules. Standard TGA is where each player completes a hole in turn, or Traditional Golf where you will use ball markers to track your position and take turns after every shot and is the basic game. In Pro Mode, you can deal a Pro Player card at random to each player. These have special abilities and rule changes. After that, determine the turn order and how many holes you’ll be playing. Design your course, determine its par amount with the given formula found in the rulesbook, and get playing. The instructions booklet is very helpful and contains a simple but exhaustive overview of the rules and the game options.

Roll your weather die before every shot, and line up the wind with the spinner. The weather simulation adds a neat touch of realism to the game, you’ll be moving your ball at the end of every shot to adjust for wind. Take your shot and adjust for weather. Apply any hazards, and repeat until you get to the hole and record your score, then on to the next hole.

Sunny weather means no effects are applied, but two levels of wind determine how many balls-length you will be moved away from your destination, and the spinner decides the direction of movement. Hazards include the rough, where you will have to use your non dominant hand to shoot. Trees will require the middle finger of your non dominant hand. Sand requires the thumb of your non dominant hand. Water and cliffs gives you a penalty and requires you to restart your shot. The Ridge rolls your ball down the arrow. These hazards add a great challenge that can really change the tide of your game if you get stuck.

The artwork for this game is very simple, but very elegant and comes with a nice color palette and really gives you that golfing feel. I like the new beachside theme a lot. The game comes with 28 new high-quality wooden, modular, hexagonal tiles with hazards, fairway, and holes. These are new ocean hazard, beach, and cliff themed tiles. It comes with a handy instruction sheet and a hazard map. Balls come in purple, orange, red, and black, so you can pick the color best suited for you. These add some new colors to your collection that aren’t found in the Pro Edition. They are metal ball bearings embedded in a plastic ring for flicking. For those with disabilities or small children, the game comes with cardboard golf clubs that can be used for hitting the ball. A weather dice and spinner. Sticky-note golf markers. A pad of scorecards. 8 New Golf Pro Player cards with unique abilities, themed after the new beachside setting. What’s really neat, and all new, are the four plastic palm tree pieces. It also comes with two vinyl golf holes. And best of all: a golden trophy for the tournament winner. This Meeple Beach Edition offers a whole new theme from the original Pro Edition, and it’s really nice.

This version adds an all new mechanic: the tree pieces. When you land in a tree hazard tile, you must place one of the plastic tree pieces on the hazard, and to get out of the hazard you must hit your ball around it. This adds an all new, and really engaging challenge. There’s also unique rules determined by if you land on the sand or the water side of a beach hazard tile.

Like the previous installment, this is a great game.  From the high quality components, to the strong customizability and infinite replay value. The customization and flexibility have to be the best part, combined with the absolutely authentic experience and the skill which must have been needed to so authentically recreate a fun game of golf into the tabletop format, as no one has ever done before. Not only do I enjoy golf mechanics, but I’ve always really enjoyed dexterity games and flicking things around, so this really is a great combination for me. With the mix-and-match custom course creation mechanic, to the weather variability, to challenging course obstacles: you never know what you’re gonna get! It can be very frustrating, but extremely satisfying when you finally pull through. I really like the new beach mechanics, which really expand on the water hazards of the previous game and help keep things interesting, and the new plastic tree pieces as hazards are a really unique feature to keep things engaging. I like that I was able to add this to my collection, and now I have even more options as a TGA player, since I can easily combine the tiles and mechanics from both the Meeple Beach and Pro Edition in order to have even more customization options than I had before, and that’s really where this game shines. No two games of Table Golf are the same.

Like the Pro Version, I only really have a few criticisms. The game and its expansions are a little pricey, but its totally worth it, and joining the club for discounts is really helpful. I’m also still not the biggest fan of the wind mechanism. It adds a lot of realism, and it isn’t bad, but i find it a bit tedious to remember and it does keep the pace slower than i’d like, but there is a house rule for not having the wind. I wouldn’t say they should remove it, because wind is a really important part of golf, it’s just a bit hard to implement on the tabletop scene since it needs to be manually controlled.

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For those who want to go it alone, this game can be played solo, and works great. However, in my opinion it is best played completely with three or so other people for maximum fun, suspense, and excitement. It makes winning the trophy at the end all the more satisfying. I’ve been playing this game for some time, and I’m never disappointed, and I’m happy to get this new expansion. I’ve played a lot of good dexterity games and this has to be one of my favorites. Who said you couldn’t successfully bring Golf to the tabletop realm? Well, it appears the fine folks at the TGA continue to prove them wrong with each new installment!

I got together and played this with my family as well as a few solo rounds to try it out. The new hazards definitely ramp up the difficulty of this game from the pro version, and add a lot of great variety. We tried out the new preset map “The Cove” and it was really great. The new hazards definitely make it feel like you’re actually golfing by the beachside and need to be more careful. It’s a great game to play with others.

Folks, do yourself a favor, and back the kickstarter, get yourself a copy, pickup some expansions if it suits you, join the official TGA at the TGA website for discounts and tournaments, and have fun tabletop golfing! If you’re a longtime table golf player, you’ll love this and it is the perfect expansion to up your game experience. If you’re new here, what better way to get started? This expansion is great for beginners and pros alike.

Check out their website, by the expansion and more products and join the TGA at https://tablegolfassociation.com/ and remember to check out their kickstarter!