They appear in order of progress to get to the game. First image is what loads up
Here you select the game (appears there could be something new on a weekly basis?
One of the courses.
The Basics
Mini Golf Madness brings all the fun and excitement of traditional Mini Golf to Pogo. Now you don’t even have to leave the comforts of your own home to enjoy a great game of Mini Golf! And if that wasn’t enough, you’ll see things in this game that you’d never see on any real Mini Golf course.
GameplayThe basic goal in all Mini Golf games is to sink the ball into the cup in the fewest shots possible, and Mini Golf Madnessis no exception to that rule. The fewer shots it takes to sink the ball, the better your score and the more Tokens you’ll win.
Starting a New Game
Unlike most other Pogo games, Mini Golf Madnessfeatures a menu system that allows you to choose which course you’d like to play. There are two kinds of courses:
"Standard" Pogo courses: These courses are always available, and the list will grow over time. There will be a total of four courses available to start (including one Club Pogo-exclusive course), but new courses will be added over time, so keep coming back to look for more new holes to play! Club Pogo members will have access to more courses over time.
"Weekly" courses: As you might expect from the name, these courses are generated every week by randomly pulling holes from the current “Standard” courses. That means you’ll see holes you’ve already played before but in an entirely different order than you’re used to, making for a whole new game experience! Weekly courses will be available for several months before being cleared from the list.
Using the Interface So before you can shoot the ball, you have to place the ball on the tee. When you start a new hole, the game will give you some information about new elements you haven’t seen before. After clearing out these dialogs, the camera will zoom in toward the tee box for that hole, allowing you to place the ball anywhere on the tee. Of course, before you decide where to tee up, you might want to know more about the hole – like the best path to approach from.
In order to see the entire course again, you’ll want to pull the camera back to the furthest zoom level. There are a few ways to do this using the zoom meter, which is located on the golf bag in the lower-right corner of the screen. You can either click the +/- signs at the top and bottom of the bar, grab and drag the zoom slider, or click anywhere along the zoom bar to instantly move to that zoom level. You can also use the mouse wheel to quickly and easily adjust the zoom level.
Aside from zooming, you can also pan the screen by clicking anywhere on the course and moving the mouse to "drag" the view around. The combination of panning and zooming will allow you to focus on whatever part of the hole you need to see, whenever you need to see it. The only time you can’t pan or zoom is while the ball is in motion.
Aiming and Shooting
The interface for shooting the ball in Mini Golf Madness is fairly simple – move the aiming line where you want the ball to go, pull away from the ball to set the strength of your shot, then click the left mouse button to shoot. Simple, right? Don’t worry about inadvertently shooting the ball when you click to pan the screen, either – we detect movement before you release the mouse button, so you won’t shoot by accident.
Scoring Just like regular Mini Golf, the lower your score, the better you’re doing. Each hole has a "Par" setting, which tells you the average number of "strokes" expected to complete the hole – shooting more shots than that puts you over Par, while shooting less puts you under Par. No matter what the Par value of the hole is, the rating of your success is the same, according to this chart:
3 under Par Double Eagle (40 Tokens)
2 under Par Eagle (35 Tokens)
1 under Par Birdie (30 Tokens)
1 over Par Bogey (15 Tokens)
2 over Par Double Bogey (10 Tokens)
3 over Par Triple Bogey (5 Tokens)
4 over Par Quadruple Bogey (3 Tokens)
You also get 20 Tokens for making Par, and 50 Tokens for a Hole in One.
Of course, a Hole in One can be the same number of strokes below Par as a Birdie, Eagle or Double Eagle, but you’ll get credit for the Hole in One, instead. Also, no matter how many shots you take, your score will never go above 6 on any hole. If you get to 6 and decide you just can’t finish the hole, you can always click on the "Take 6" button (where the Stroke counter usually appears) to skip ahead to the next hole.
Power-upsYou earn power-ups randomly by completing holes. There’s really nothing to it – sometimes you get one "just because!" There are 4 power-ups available in Mini Golf Madness, each of which has different times when they can and can’t be used:
Big Gulp
This power-up makes the cup grow to twice its size for the remainder of the hole. Can only be used before a shot is taken.
Stop!
Immediately stops the ball’s motion when clicked, but can only be used while the ball is in motion and not interacting with another course feature. Can also be activated by right-clicking.
Mulligan
Returns the course to the exact conditions before your last shot. Can only be activated after a shot has been taken and the ball is at rest.
Accu-Aim
Draws the path of ball to and slightly beyond the next wall it will come in contact with. However, this power-up does not take any other course features into account, such as slopes or moving objects. Can only be activated before shooting the ball.
Course FeaturesThere are a number of different course features you’ll come across in Mini Golf Madness. Here’s a brief rundown of each category:
Surfaces and Hazards Green
The standard surface that the ball rolls across. Greens are very short and have a minimal amount of friction, allowing the ball to travel long distances.
Sand
Soft and fluffy, the ball bogs down a little more than twice as fast as it does in the rough.
Ice
Smooth and slick, the ball almost never stops once it hits the ice.
Water
The ball sinks if it lands in this hazard, losing an extra stroke.
Lava
The ball burns up if it touches this hazard, losing an extra stroke.
Slopes
Sloped surfaces make the ball change course depending on its orientation – raised slopes will make it harder for the ball to move forward, while declined slopes will speed the ball along. Sometimes it pays to avoid slopes, but carefully used, they can be used to your advantage, too.
Tunnels and Teleporters
There are two different ways for the ball to move around the course without actually rolling across the surface of the course. Tunnel entrances look like holes without a bottom, while Teleporter entrances look like alien crop circles. The exits for each are similarly easy to spot, but you may not always know which entrance and exit match up if you see more than one on a single hole.
Bridges
Bridges usually connect separate areas together, but can also present a challenge that you have to work around. Bridges come in many forms, including standard wooden spans, hollow logs and even decorative arches.
Windmills
Windmills come in several shapes and sizes, but not all of them have blades – some use entrances that open and close at regular intervals, too. There are four Windmill objects in the game: a standard Windmill with blades, a Castle, a Tiki Brother head, and a Clock Tower. Windmills have tunnels inside that carry the ball off to other areas, so if you see one, you’ll probably need to aim for it to complete the hole.
Tornado Boxes and Fans
Both of these objects impart their influence on the ball whenever it enters their range. The area of effect for a Tornado Box can be seen by the swirl surrounding it, while Fans have visible air currents that show which way they’re blowing. It’s always a good idea to keep the ball from getting sucked away by a Tornado Box as you lose the ball, but Fans can be helpful if you shoot carefully. Either way, it pays to be careful around these particular objects.
Bumpers
There are two basic bumpers in the game – a Penguin and a Cow. Bumpers send the ball away faster than they were moving when they touched them, so you’ll want to be careful when shooting the ball near them. Like some other obstacles, bumpers can be used to your advantage but they’re highly volatile, so approach them with caution.
Stationary Objects
These objects simply sit on the course and look pretty – until the ball hits them, that is. Stationary objects do not have “bounce” like bumpers do, so the ball is deadened by the collision. You’ll run into many stationary objects as you play, including an Acorn, a Bowling Pin, a Honey Pot, a huge Lottso Ball, and two colored Mahjong Tiles (red and orange).
Moving Objects
Moving objects are similar to stationary objects, except that they travel some distance up and down or side to side. There are three moving objects in the game: two different colors of Poker Chip (red and blue), and a Car. It’s usually a good idea to avoid moving objects, but you might be able to use them to your advantage from time to time.
Rotating Objects
There are two rotating objects in the game – a Baseball Bat and a set of Dominoes. Rotating objects swing around and knock the ball off of its regular course, so unless you’re really good and know exactly when to hit them, you’re probably better off avoiding them entirely.
Ranks and BadgesMini Golf Madness has 50 ranks that Club Pogo players can earn as they progress through the game. Your current rank is located in the lower-right corner of the screen, sticking out of the top of the golf bag/zoom meter. You can click on the rank image at any time during the game to check your progress towards the next rank.
Depending on your performance on each hole, you’re awarded rank points towards the next rank: 4 points for a Hole in One or Double Eagle, 3 points for an Eagle or Birdie, 2 points for a Par, and 1 point for any other result.
There are 5 rank badges you can win in Mini Golf Madness. The badges are given out when you achieve ranks 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50.
You can also earn special "Course" badges by completing each Standard course in the game at or below Par.
JackpotTo win a Jackpot Spin in Mini Golf Madness, you simply need to play through the Front 9 or Back 9 of any course.
