Timely Review: Curling, because pushing a broom is fun.

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So developer Dadoo’s Curling went up last night on Xbox Indie Marketplace, as you may have seen on our daily update, for the rock knocking price of 240 Microsoft Points. This is usually the part where I give a catchy description of the conceptual nature of the game, but honestly its freaking curling, what am I supposed to say? I mean, Hell, your only avatar in the game is a floating broom.

Gameplay

Curling is a sport played on ice and is similar in nature to Shuffleboard. Your objective is simple, get more rocks in the “House” than your opponent and do so by any means necessary. That usually involves setting up guard stones, knocking your opponents stones out of the house, and employing some serious understanding of Newton’s Laws.

The gameplay is not particularly intuitive, in fact when I got the trial version I tried to just jump right in and start knocking stones around. After failing miserably even at the lowest difficulty level I ran out of time and the demo was over. I proceeded to acquire the game and did the tutorial first thing. The tutorial not only gives you a good understanding of the controls, but also runs down the rules of the game which is quite helpful.

You determine the direction of spin with the X and B buttons position the broom and angle with the sticks and determine the strength of your throw with the left and right trigger. Once the stone is released you can use the triggers to determine your sweeping. The sweeping itself is the hardest thing to really get the hang of and in a close second is getting the spin right on your stone throws.

The game does offer some multiplayer modes, allowing for Xbox Live Gold members to play online and the rest of you mortals to play couch multiplayer.

Audio Visual

There aren’t any. The visuals are simple, not in an endearing way, and there literally isn’t any music unless you bring your own. The only sound is that of you banging stones into one another. So not much else to say here. It is what you see in the screenshots.

Summary

The Curling title doesn’t lie, it is a game about curling. But at 240 Microsoft Points it is nearly impossible to recommend. It is amusing but really seems like something that belongs in a free Flash game. Don’t get swept up in the excitement of the Olympics for this thing. Play the demo get it out of your system and move on. Go buy Chime or Braid or any of the other countless great games on XBL.

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  • dadoogames

    Thanks for the review. I'm sorry to hear you didn't care for the game, but I'm not totally surprised. If you enjoy the sport of curling before playing the game it will likely have much more appeal. It's not going to compete with EA, but it is still the best multiplayer curling game on the 360 (yes, its the only one).

    Any suggestions for future improvements are welcome.

  • http://www.twofedoras.com GeoffS

    Hey, thanks for taking the time to read our review. I think what you guys made was a solid game. The only aspect I really took exception to was the value it offered. That perceived value is obviously going to be different for a Curling enthusiast who'll have no trouble making a case for the 240 point price tag.

    As far as suggestions, I can only really speak for myself when I say this but, I think a stylistic element to the game could have dramatically changed my perception. Whether it be avatars in the game or some other characters. Maybe an arcade mode with simplified gameplay for us normal people. :)

    Anyways, congratulations on the launch best of luck with the sales. I don't think you will have too much trouble moving units with such good timing.