Review Insights · App Store
Golf Rival - Multiplayer Game
Zynga Inc. · 147,414 ratings · ★ 4.5
4.5
★★★★★
147,414 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 55 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"game"
38 negative reviews mention this · 69% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Game sucks. Game sucks" - Jokegolf rival
2
"play"
15 negative reviews mention this · 27% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Garbage. Don’t even waste your time!! Pure junk! Spend max time lining up your shot and it shows yellow which is no obstruction and when you hit a perfect shot it still hits or lands where it shouldn’t have. All the time! Stay away from this horrib…" - Fawcue72
3
"golf"
11 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The matrix masquerading as golf. If you’re looking for a game that is reasonably realistic, this is definitely not the game for you. Calling this “golf” is stretching honesty to its limits - this is more like “The Matrix” masquerading as golf. Players can buy golf balls th…" - BigD2250
4
"ball"
11 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The matrix masquerading as golf. If you’re looking for a game that is reasonably realistic, this is definitely not the game for you. Calling this “golf” is stretching honesty to its limits - this is more like “The Matrix” masquerading as golf. Players can buy golf balls th…" - BigD2250
5
"balls"
10 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The matrix masquerading as golf. If you’re looking for a game that is reasonably realistic, this is definitely not the game for you. Calling this “golf” is stretching honesty to its limits - this is more like “The Matrix” masquerading as golf. Players can buy golf balls th…" - BigD2250
6
"money"
10 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The matrix masquerading as golf. If you’re looking for a game that is reasonably realistic, this is definitely not the game for you. Calling this “golf” is stretching honesty to its limits - this is more like “The Matrix” masquerading as golf. Players can buy golf balls th…" - BigD2250
7
"shot"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Garbage. Don’t even waste your time!! Pure junk! Spend max time lining up your shot and it shows yellow which is no obstruction and when you hit a perfect shot it still hits or lands where it shouldn’t have. All the time! Stay away from this horrib…" - Fawcue72
8
"bots"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Doesn’t Appear Real. Gives me feeling that I compete with unrealistically accurate bots repeatedly. Beyond a point it becomes boring" - SD997t
9
"spend"
6 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Garbage. Don’t even waste your time!! Pure junk! Spend max time lining up your shot and it shows yellow which is no obstruction and when you hit a perfect shot it still hits or lands where it shouldn’t have. All the time! Stay away from this horrib…" - Fawcue72
10
"opponent"
6 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Frustrating and Unrealistic. Ad Rival in a nutshell: You, open club settings, small tweak, hit the shot for 280 yards. Opponent, open club settings, switch to kangaroo ball immediately and obnoxious spins. Hits 360 yards on the fairway an inch from the edge while bou…" - Marco553
11
"clubs"
6 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "SCAM. The match making algorithm is clearly designed to match you with like competition so you are having fun. However when you get to opportunities to earn the clubs they want you to pay for, all the sudden you are playing someone with 1000’s of…" - fregiry
📋 All 55 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Game sucks
Game sucks
Garbage
Don’t even waste your time!! Pure junk! Spend max time lining up your shot and it shows yellow which is no obstruction and when you hit a perfect shot it still hits or lands where it shouldn’t have. All the time! Stay away from this horrible game. VERY slow play and 3 minute ads! What a joke
The matrix masquerading as golf
If you’re looking for a game that is reasonably realistic, this is definitely not the game for you. Calling this “golf” is stretching honesty to its limits - this is more like “The Matrix” masquerading as golf. Players can buy golf balls that can make apparently an infinite number of 180 degree turns mid flight, making an albatross on a 1,000 yard par-5 as “difficult” as a tap-in putt. This game is nothing more than another money grab.
Doesn’t Appear Real
Gives me feeling that I compete with unrealistically accurate bots repeatedly. Beyond a point it becomes boring
Frustrating and Unrealistic
Ad Rival in a nutshell: You, open club settings, small tweak, hit the shot for 280 yards.
Opponent, open club settings, switch to kangaroo ball immediately and obnoxious spins. Hits 360 yards on the fairway an inch from the edge while bouncing off the rough.
Then one of the following will repeat until one of you gets an Eagle or Birdie.
A) Opponent ( the bot) ricochets off a rock or tree perfectly.
B) Opponent randomly forgets about wind and lets you win.
C) You draw (tie) and lose when then the opponent hits a closer shot with their unlimited supply of kangaroo balls.
D) The AI breaks and shoots in a random direction opposite the pin (maybe 1 out of 50 games)
Don’t even get me started on Fairway Fortune. It’ll let you win once up to level 30 before you empty all your gems. Then you always get a broken club every other turn. Don’t bother unless you’re being paid to play.
With 2% albatross, 20% eagle, 65% birdie stats I only win 7 out of 10 games.
Opponent, open club settings, switch to kangaroo ball immediately and obnoxious spins. Hits 360 yards on the fairway an inch from the edge while bouncing off the rough.
Then one of the following will repeat until one of you gets an Eagle or Birdie.
A) Opponent ( the bot) ricochets off a rock or tree perfectly.
B) Opponent randomly forgets about wind and lets you win.
C) You draw (tie) and lose when then the opponent hits a closer shot with their unlimited supply of kangaroo balls.
D) The AI breaks and shoots in a random direction opposite the pin (maybe 1 out of 50 games)
Don’t even get me started on Fairway Fortune. It’ll let you win once up to level 30 before you empty all your gems. Then you always get a broken club every other turn. Don’t bother unless you’re being paid to play.
With 2% albatross, 20% eagle, 65% birdie stats I only win 7 out of 10 games.
The Game of ADS
Enjoy the fun of watching Ads galore
No black faces for profile images
No black faces for profile images
SCAM
The match making algorithm is clearly designed to match you with like competition so you are having fun. However when you get to opportunities to earn the clubs they want you to pay for, all the sudden you are playing someone with 1000’s of games under their belt and clubs that hit a hundred yards farther than yours. It’s rigged to make you feel like you can progress without spending money.
Game doesn’t match the ad
I’ve been playing this game for almost a year and trust me. I haven’t seen anything that looks like the ad. So if you think you’re gonna be playing and watching people fall through into a hole or hitting on what looks like a miniature golf course you’re gonna be very disappointed.
Lame Game
Just saying they cheat don’t waste your money
Waste of time
Uses bots and algorithms rarely I play a real player. Easy and fixed in early levels but later level you must pay to get clubs and balls to have a chance to win.
Sell. Sell. Sell.
All it wants you to do is buy buy buy buy like bruh.. its a lil “Fun” golf game with ok maps. Pop ups and such low RNG % to get a decent roll. Screw off. Lucky i cant share photos..
Super fun until you get paired against people 10000 pts above level
Pairing system awful. Would never spend money on game. I was just paired, twice, against opponents 9900 points higher and clubs 2 levels higher. No chance to win… so, why even play to be frustrated. I’ve just played the last 13 games against players rated 5000 to 10000 points ahead of me. This is statistically significant. If I was buying wins, I guarantee this company would be pairing me with lower skills to keep the $$ rolling in. Apple really needs to look at companies rigging their games to this level.
Software sucks
Lost all my coins do to their computer glitch they would not replace them
Not worth the time
I have played this stupid game for a while and it only gets worse as time goes on. Unless you enjoy watching tons of videos for very little reward, don't waste your time.
All Ai
This game is all Ai there is no way everyone is mute
Worst game ever
Game has so many flaws on IPhone that they won’t fix every update game gets worse.
This game stinks now
Boo
Money grab
If these game makers would just understand that they’d make money without having to money grab, if they just didn’t money grab. The spins are 10000% predetermined. The fairway challenge is absolutely rigged and not random. It’s all about ripping people off. Not a doubt in my mind.
And the gameplay is flawed. Do not download this game. Your wallet will thank you. Put them all out on the street.
And the gameplay is flawed. Do not download this game. Your wallet will thank you. Put them all out on the street.
Misleading ads
The gameplay is nothing like the ads portray. All you do is pull back to launch the ball. Where is the player character at? Such a joke. Deleted after maybe five minutes. 🥱
Typical mobile game
Don’t think they actually tend to care for people who enjoy golf. Game is more of a pay to win style of play where you’re running against overpowered bots or players that spent a lot on the game to upgrade their clubs quick. It’s hard to upgrade your clubs when they hardly give out any for free as they want you to keep using diamonds for the CHANCE of possibly getting cards to upgrade your club. Already spent around 20k diamonds and still have yet to get enough cards to upgrade a club. Any tournaments too, good luck, you won’t even come close to winning so explain to me how you’re supposed to upgrade your clubs without spending real money. Will be deleting
Giant sales pitch
This game decides when it is time for you to spend money by setting you up to lose. Shots will be placed just out of reach so you buy balls or gems to get better clubs. If you win too much the bots will come in and destroy you on a hole.
Challenges are set up to spend money. I don’t so I lose. Deleting this game.
Challenges are set up to spend money. I don’t so I lose. Deleting this game.
????
Unreal charge for everything, nothing but business not fun at all, sucks a lot , every time your are about to finish the tournament to get a reward , the game some how send the golf ball to a crazy direction sucks. Not good game
Make this change and I’ll change my review
Whenever you do a golf battle to see who can get the ball closest to the pin after a draw, there needs to be a permanent way throughout that shot to notify the player that shot is a draw battle and not a normal shot. All it does is tell you at the beginning of the shot that its a draw battle
Shot and then reverts back to what looks like a normal shot. It’s too easy to lose focus and have to go back to the phone and not realize you are on a draw battle Shot.
Shot and then reverts back to what looks like a normal shot. It’s too easy to lose focus and have to go back to the phone and not realize you are on a draw battle Shot.
Gravity defying bs
The shot path isn’t reliable. Putting is a joke. The amount of curve you can put on a ball is ridiculous.
Could be a fun game
Too many adds..too much clickbait… makes it not as enjoyable as it used to be….
Stupid
Get ready for no basis in reality, waste of time
Political Ads No Thank You
I should not have to look at political ads while playing a game. I especially an ad featuring a felon and pedofile. Deleting this game and others like it now.
Not what they show
This game has nothing to do with what they show on the advertising
Liars
The game claims there are no bots. You can tell when you play that. They are fake players. Opponent shot that aren’t even close to going in. Managed to go in. Yet your shots that should go in don’t. I’ve written many times to them and they always give me lies for answers.
Garbage app
Fed up with bull Hickey apps that only cater to Joe blow spending all his free cash to buy talent while people wanting fair play get set aside for pay to play losers. Great app if you like making daily purchases.
Ads leave you in limbo
Game forces ads for you to watch to gain perks/rewards in gameplay. Most ads don’t work properly and don’t payout the perk/reward. Leads to a hamster wheel of non-activity.
SFG
Stop resettling my hard earned points
The game cheats
The game cheat it under shorts you over shot you cheat but a fun game to play if you don’t like being a winner
Cheaters and Manipulated gameplay
Horrible game that permits cheaters. Winning is based on purchasing balls and cards to have clubs better than opponents. Developer uses environmental condition manipulation to ensure paid players win no matter what. In fun
So this game still stinks
this game is a bait and switch. Is just a fishing game for data collection of your phone.
Trash
I finally deleted the app. I’m convinced the developers of the game have never even held a golf club, let alone played a game. The most random starts and course layout is the most frustrating thing I’ve ever come across. Keep looking, this is not the one.
Trash can
What a horrid game. Physics are absolutely broken. Wind doesn’t matter. You’ll adjust for wind and somehow hit a ball completely off course the opposite way. Sometimes you’ll hit an object that’s on an open course that stops your ball with no object in sight. You draw so many times it’s sickening. They won’t show you the opponents hit which only means it’s a bot you’re playing with a predetermined outcome. I wouldn’t spend a penny on this broken game.
Almost Great
It would be a great game if it made more clear who’s turn is it, had a easy-to-see visible clock for your turn and if you could chat with the opponent
Golf
Yall be cheating
Just ok at best
One star that’s all they get the balls they give you don’t help the courses some of them have obstacles completely from one side to the other across the course and you can’t go over them You have to use the club. They choose you to use I was wrong. I was disappointed with the game
Pay to win
Very unfair game , all about money
Ad’s show mini Golf
Ad’s show mini Golf but whe. you play it regular golf and it’s slow
SOUND
YOUR ADS DO NOT GIVR THE OPTION TO TURN THE SOUND OFF!! I PLAY MY GAMES WITH SOUND OFF AS TO JOT DISTURB ANYONE, YET HERE COMES YOUR AD LOUD AS EVER!! I WON’T BE TRYING YOUR GAME FOR THIS REASON ALONE. IF YOU CAN’T HAVE A SIMPLE FEATURE TO TURN THE SOUND OFF IN YOUR ADS, HOW WELL DESIGNED CAN YOUR GAME BE?
Fun, But
Seems like a fun game, I understand the wind and other factors however, it doesn’t seem to match up. Other times I hit a mountain or something when it says it’s a clear shot. I guess it doesn’t seem fun when it seems so inconsistent with I’m expecting the ball to given the different favors. More annoying than anything
Too many bots!
It was fun in the start but BOTS took over. It’s fun if you play a real person, but then you do nothing but play the bot. I bet most of the 5 star reviews aren’t real either and writing by ai
No penalty for out of bounds
When an opponent gets out of bounds, there is absolutely no penalty. What is the point of claiming out of bounds. They just pick up where they left off without a stroke penalty.
Beware
Fun game, nice graphics, however, the publisher always has you play against opponents that use special balls, rarely they use a normal ball. The publisher wants you to spend $$$. Just be careful.
Fun until level 13-you’ll hate it after that!!
The game is impossible once you get to level 13. The courses get stupid with obstacles you never encounter in real golf. Your opponents always have the special golf balls to give them the advantage that you never have unless you pay through the nose for them. Your opponent hits a ball out of bounds and there is no one stroke penalty like in real golf so even though you play a hole perfectly, they can still get on the green and force a “closest to the hole” playoff which you can rarely ever win because they always have the special kangaroo balls. The playoff holes are stupid, too. Instead of a par three type hole where both are hitting at a green and use actual skill, it’s an impossibly difficult par 5 type where you have to hit around stupid laser walls. The designers have made me hate this game. I’m done!
Bring money
You can win if you use the “special” golf balls which cost. These balls are highly used by the bots; tie breakers are usually based on how far you can hit the ball so hint: buy these balls. I refuse to cheat. I mostly use the plain free white ball. They deleted my other review so I’m sure they will delete this one too. Plus: The physics are not accurate, the tournaments are based on distance too (see above). Humbug.
+ 5 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
89%
Positive (4-5★)
5%
Neutral (3★)
6%
Negative (1-2★)