Games / Arcade Games / Marigold Mini Golf / Guide
Marigold Mini Golf
Marigold Mini Golf is miniature golf in real 3D: six hand made courses, from a garden of windmills to a smoking volcano, with honest putting physics, sun shadows and a quiet soundscape on every course. Drag back, aim and putt.
Quick answers
Does Marigold Mini Golf work on my phone?
Yes. Marigold Mini Golf works with touch on phones and tablets, and with a mouse or keyboard on a computer. It runs in the browser you already have, so there is no app to download.
Do I need an account to play Marigold Mini Golf?
No. Just open it and play, with no sign-up. If you like, a free account (username only, no email, for players 13 and older) puts your scores on the leaderboards and backs up your progress so it follows you to any device.
Is there a daily challenge in Marigold Mini Golf?
Yes. Marigold Mini Golf has a new daily challenge every day, the same one for every player, with its own daily leaderboard. Find it alongside the others on our daily challenges page.
Does Marigold Mini Golf save my progress?
Yes. It saves on this device on its own, so you can close the page and pick up where you left off. Sign in with a free account to keep the same progress on your phone and your computer.
Is Marigold Mini Golf OK for kids?
Yes, players of any age can enjoy it. There is no chat and no way to message other players, and nobody needs an account to play. Accounts are for players 13 and older, so younger players just play and their progress stays on their device. For ages 4 to 11 we also have learning games in their own kids area, with no ads, no accounts and no tracking.
What is Marigold Mini Golf?
Miniature golf (some people call it crazy golf or adventure golf) is golf shrunk down to a putter and a ball. Every hole is a little course of its own with rails, slopes and obstacles, and the goal is to sink the ball in as few strokes as you can. We built Marigold Mini Golf to feel like the best afternoon at a real course: the ball skids and then rolls, it banks true off the rails, it breaks with the slope, and it drops into the cup at a gentle pace or lips out when you hit it too hard.
There are six courses of nine holes, 54 in all, and each one is a different place with its own sky, light and sounds. It is free, plays in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and there is nothing to install.
How to play
Put your finger or mouse on your ball and drag back, the way you would pull a slingshot. A dotted line shows where the ball will go and a meter beside the ball shows the power. Let go to putt. If you change your mind, drag back to the ball and let go there to cancel.
- Look around: drag anywhere away from the ball to turn the camera. Pinch or scroll to zoom.
- View: the whole hole from above, handy on long holes with short cuts.
- Fine aim: the line turns at a quarter of the speed, for long putts that need to be exact.
- Keyboard: Left and Right aim, Up and Down set the power, Space putts and Shift makes every step finer. V switches to the view from above.
Every new hole starts with a short flyover so you can see the route, the hazards and any short cut. Tap to skip it. The first hole has a few tips, and each hole has one hint about where the clever line is.
Scoring, par and stars
Par is the number of strokes a good player needs, from 2 on the simplest holes to 4 on the big finales. Water, lava and rolling off the course cost one stroke, and the ball comes back to where you played from. A hole stops at par plus four, so one bad hole never ruins a round with friends.
| Result | Stars | Board points |
|---|---|---|
| Hole in one | 3 | 50 + 10 per stroke under par + 25 |
| Birdie or better | 3 | 50 + 10 per stroke under par |
| Par | 2 | 50 |
| Bogey | 1 | 40 |
| Worse | 0 | 10 less per extra stroke |
Stars add up across all 162 on offer and earn new balls, trails and putters. They change how things look, never how they play.
The six courses
- Marigold Meadow: a sunny garden with windmills, a fairy ring of mushrooms, a brook with two bridges and terraced lawns.
- Gullwing Cove: boardwalks at sunset, a swinging anchor, a drawbridge, sliding crates, a pirate ship and a cannon that fires your ball onto the upper deck.
- Sunstone Canyon: red rock and temple ruins, a turning stone sun dial, portcullis gates, a jump over a canyon and a pyramid with the cup on top.
- Snowberry Hollow: an alpine village at dusk with lanterns, ice that keeps the ball moving, a carousel, swinging snowballs and a ski lift up to the lodge.
- Glowworm Alley: a neon night city of bumpers, boost pads, conveyor belts, glass tubes and spinners, ending with a full lap of the arcade.
- Emberpeak Isle: a volcanic island with lava rivers, basalt hammers, a drawbridge over the magma and a vent that throws your ball onto a ledge.
Marigold Meadow is open from the start. Finish a course and the next one opens. In pass and play and online, every course is open so friends can pick any of them.
Ways to play
- Round: nine holes on one course.
- Tour: all six courses back to back, 54 holes, saved as you go.
- House players: five rivals, Pip (Beginner), Clover (Easy), Juniper (Medium), Rusty (Hard) and Olive (Expert). You take turns on the same holes and the lowest total wins. They read the hole for real, and they miss like real players do.
- Pass and play: two to four players on one device, taking turns stroke by stroke.
- Play a friend: online with a four letter room code, no account needed. Both screens play exactly the same shot.
- Practice: any hole on a course you have opened, as often as you like.
- Time trial: a course against the clock, with three seconds added for every stroke.
Daily Nine and leaderboards
The Daily Nine is nine holes picked from all six courses, the same for everyone that day (it changes at midnight UTC). Your first finish posts to the Today board, and you can play it again just for fun afterward. Share your card to show your score without spoiling the holes.
There is also a board for each course that keeps your best nine hole points. Online games never post to the boards.
Tips for lower scores
- Look for the hole in one line first. Almost every hole has one, often off a rail or through a short cut.
- Use the view from above on long holes before your first putt.
- On slopes, aim high on the uphill side. The ball curves more as it slows down.
- A ball at a gentle pace drops in. A fast one can ride over the cup and catch the far edge.
- Windmills, gates and bridges run on a steady beat. Watch one full turn, then putt as the gap starts to open.
- Ice keeps the ball moving, sand stops it fast, and boost pads add a lot of pace. Plan for all three.
- Rails bounce true, so a bank shot at the same angle comes off at the same angle.
Questions
Is Marigold Mini Golf free?
Yes. It is free to play in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer. There are no ads inside the game, no energy timers and nothing to buy.
How do you putt in Marigold Mini Golf?
Drag back from your ball, aim the dotted line and let go. The farther you drag, the harder the putt. Drag back to the ball to cancel.
Can you play mini golf with friends?
Yes. Pass and play takes two to four players on one device, and Play a friend connects two devices online with a room code. Every course is open in both.
How do the other courses open?
Finish a course in a round, the tour, a time trial or against a house player and the next course opens.
Why did the ball lip out of the cup?
It was moving too fast. A ball that arrives gently drops in, while a fast one can ride across the hole and catch the far edge, just like on a real green.
Does it work on older phones?
Yes. The game picks a graphics level for your device and steps down if frames run slow. You can also choose Low, Medium or High in Settings.
