Desert Golfing ($1.99) is one of those games that practically transcends what we expect from video games. On its surface it’s an extremely simplified game of golf, where each hole is a single screen and by using the tried and true “pull back and slingshot" method your job is simply to get the ball in the hole in as few moves as possible. There is no menu, there is no level select screen, there is no storyline or additional goals. You hit the ball in the hole, move on to the next hole, rinse and repeat for the rest of eternity.

It might sound painfully boring, and I’m sure there are many who think so, but there’s also a dedicated group who see much more in Desert Golfing. In a way it’s like a metaphor for life. What’s the purpose? Why are we here? We just keep on going from one day to the next, trying to milk whatever enjoyment that we can out of each one, but ultimately we’re all just spinning our wheels until we inevitably leave this earth and move on to who knows what. It’s some deep stuff!

I’ll pull a quote from one of our long-time forum members Guise, who should be congratulated for recently passing the 10,000 hole mark (which you can see above), who describes the game like this: “Desert Golfing, like all games and really all human endeavors and our existence in the universe, is ultimately transient and pointless. But it can still be meaningful and enjoyable if we find meaning and joy in the experience. This is existential mobile gaming that is both ephemeral and eternal. Or it’s just an absurd golf game set in an endless desert. Either way, it’s awesome."

So anyway, yeah, Desert Golfing. It’s a strange beast, but one that has captivated a tightly-knit group of players enough to play through multiple thousands of holes over the past year or so, with no end in sight and no real point to any of it. If you’re a frequenter in our forums, you’re no doubt familiar with Andy C83 (he is the guy that’s beating you on the Game Center leaderboard in every game you own). Andy recently put together this beautiful time-lapse style video of the first thousand holes in Desert Golfing, set to America’s “Horse With No Name", and it’s a very entertaining watch. I thought I’d share it with you guys.

“You see I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name…" The lyrics in that song are just perfect for Desert Golfing. I also love how Andy stops to show certain epic shots in full, as every once in a while you’ll make the craziest shot in this game and it’s nice to be able to appreciate that. Also notice his total score of 2002 strokes, meaning he averages 2 strokes per hole which is impressive.

So hey, if you have never checked out Desert Golfing before, perhaps you’ll fall into the camp that finds it a work of art. It’s made by the dude who did Enviro-Bear 2010 ($1.99), so you know it’s good. Andy C83 has jokingly mentioned doing a similar video to the one above but for 10,000 holes, and although I’d love to see what that is like, I wouldn’t wish that sort of anguish on anyone.