Table golf association
The Ultimate Golf Dexterity Game
“The Table Association is the first dexterity game that allows you to design and play your own course using beautifully illustrated two sided, wooden terrain tiles.
You decide where to place the Bunkers, the Rough, the Trees, and if you want to surround the hole with Water, or put it next to a Cliff. Make it as easy if difficult as you wish, the design options are endless!!!
Each hazard also has its own ‘flicking’ mechanics, adding to the realising and challenges of golf. As in real golf, you’ll also have to deal with the wind direction before each shot! You’re going to love flicking the unique ‘golf ball’ game piece, which is so much fun to hit and difficult to control. Nothing will beat the feeling when you finally sink that championship putt and take home the coveted TGA trophy!
Play one-on-one, alone, in teams, or create your own TGA league! One thing is for sure, whether you love golf or not, you’re going to love playing in the TGA!’
Gameplay:
Before the round starts, you can randomly deal 1 pro player card to each player. You then decide how many holes you are playing and a turn order.
Each player in turn order designs a golf hole and then determines the par recording it on the scorecard.
Then you play the hole. Starting by rolling the weather and spin the dial if you roll a wind result. Then you take the shot. When it comes to rest you make any adjustments and then apply any penatlties. Repeat the steps above until you have made the hole. You then record your score and then it’s the next persons turn until everyone has completed it.
Golf balls can travel no more than 7 tiles forward and so some holes will need to played over multiple shots.
If your ball lands on the fairway, you can use any finger to play your next shot and can travel the full 7 tiles next turn.
If your ball lands in the rough, you have to text the next shot using any finger on your non dominant hand and can only travel 5 tiles.
If the ball lands in the trees, the player must use the middle finger of their non dominant hand and has a max travel of 3 tiles next turn.
If the ball lands in the sand, the player must use the thumb on their non dominant hand to hit the next shot. The shot can only travel 4 tiles maximum.
If the ball lands in the water, you take a one shot penalty and place the ball at the point where it first crossed into the water hazard.
If the ball lands on a cliff, then you receive a one shot penalty and you must hit from the same spot you previously hit from.
Some tiles have a light green area with an arrow, then you have landed on a ridge. The ball will roll down the direction of the dotted line; move the ball to the tile next to it where the arrow is pointing.
There are a whole host of professional rules, you can employ should you wish and additional tiles that can be purchased as part of the Kickstarter which add different features and obstacles - something we are definitely interested in!
Components:
25 double sided terrain tiles - these are assorted contain fairway, rough, sand, trees, water, cliff and ridge tiles. These are thick and good quality pieces which sit nicely together when you place them in an arrangement forming a golf course. It’s clear to see which terrain is which.
Hazard reference chart - great handy card to be able to refer to when taking shots from the different types of terrain. Tells you how the shot must be taken and how far the shot can go. Clear and easy to read
Scorecard pad - much like a real golf game score pad, it allows four players to score 6 holes. If you want a longer game, say 18 holes, you just use three sheets
12 golf pro player cards - players can be assigned these cards which give them ability at the start of the round of golf. Players can only use this ability once per hole so need to choose when to use it wisely.
4 unique ‘golf ball’ game pieces - these are ball bearings surrounded by a colour piece of plastic. These move smoothly across the terrain tiles and the plastic ensures they don’t just fly off the end of the table - although if you flick too hard this will still happen! That’s more down to player error than an issue with the ball though!
4 golf clubs - in the rules it says you can use the golf club if you have trouble using your finger. Personally I would have preferred a wooden golf club as this I think would last longer especially if playing with younger players. The cardboard I think is a little flimsy and I can see after a lot of play might not withstand a huge amount of play. I might be wrong but personally I think wooden golf clubs would have been perfect.
Weather die - the die is used to roll for weather and assess the amount of wind affecting the shot. There are three results that could happen - sunny, one wind set and two wind sets. You roll the die and if wind is present you spin the spinner. You place the spinner so it points at the player and the intended target. One wind set means you move the ball one space in the direction of the wind, two means you move the ball two spaces in direction of the wind. Weather is not rolled for when a player is not advancing more than 1 tile space or when a player is only one tile space away from the green/hole. You also do not roll it if a shot went out of bounds instead opting to continue with the previous weather rolled.
Spinner - used for dictating which way the wind is blowing. There are more professional rules for using the spinner for example hitting a draw or fade. You can hit a draw/fade if you are on the Tee box or on a fairway. You announce which tile your ball is going to land on before you hit it. If it does land anywhere on that tile you can adjust the ball based on your shot decision. The ball is moved two spaces in the direction of the black mark in the appropriate quadrant. Then you make the wind adjustment. If your ball does not land where you indicated then the ball will slice (on a fade) or hook (on a draw).
TGA championship trophy - plastic trophy quite a nice little touch for the winner at the end of the game
Overall thoughts:
I love that there are so many possibilities for this game. You can play alone, with family, as a serious tournament or in teams. There are tons of options for golf set ups and because each player takes a turn at designing a course, you never know what you might encounter. The only limit is the amount of tiles you have and the size of your playing area.
It’s really easy to set up and explain to others. The components are a great quality and it’s unlike anything else we have in our collection. Even if you are not a golf fan, you can enjoy the game and understand what’s going on but equally golf fans I’m sure will appreciate the finer details and added rules which make it closer to playing golf than many other games I’ve seen.
The mechanic of changing hands and fingers depending on the terrain you ball ends in is a neat concept and adds to the complexity of the game. I guess this is something that could not be incorporated with just the golf club and is ultimately why it is a finger dexterity game.
There is something quite satisfying about flicking the golf ball piece down the table and having it land in the hole. This is great fun for everyone and I’m sure will be making it to the table a lot in our house. We are excited to see how this Kickstarter goes and will definitely be looking into some of the expansions for ourselves.
Check It out for your self over on Kickstarter LIVE RIGHT NOW!!!
Thank you so much for the review Craig, and believing in this game. We hope it brings many hours of fun to your family.