Switch 2

Published on April 17th, 2026 | by Jade Darton

Under Par Golf Architect Review (Nintendo Switch 2)

There’s a very specific itch that Sid Meier’s SimGolf left behind, and if you’ve ever tried to scratch it, you’ll know how weirdly specific it is. I want that mix of designing courses, watching tiny people wander around, and making sure they’re having a good time. Under Par: Golf Architect absolutely knows that, it just doesn’t always know what to do with it.

At first, it really feels like it might be the one. Laying out fairways and carving bunkers into the terrain has that satisfying sandbox feel. You’re basically sculpting a golf course like it’s made of soft clay, tweaking hills and angles until everything looks just right. There’s also a soft, stylised look to the golfers and the course that fits the laid-back vibe.

Playing your own course is better than expected. I went in thinking “please don’t make me learn golf mechanics”, but it turns out it’s pretty chill. Once it clicks and you’re lining up shots and landing birdies, it left me feeling proud of the holes I designed. But then the simulation side starts acting a bit odd.

Guest happiness is the biggest offender. You’ll click on someone who’s apparently having the worst day of their life, only to find all their needs are perfectly fine. Everything looks normal and yet they’re still miserable. After some experimenting, it seems like weeds are the secret culprit here. The worst part is they don’t just affect the areas people are actually walking through, they seem to affect everything. So you end up hiring gardeners not just for your course, but for the entire map like you’re trying to control nature itself. It works for a short while, until gardeners decide they don’t want to do their job anymore while weeds are still growing everywhere. Then you’re back to square one.

Managing staff doesn’t help much either. It feels annoying to have to constantly pick up and drag a member of maintenance staff to fix a building because they won’t automatically walk there themselves, and even then, I sometimes found they still would not perform their job. Compared to SimGolf, this feels more like a chore.

Tournaments are another weird one. They exist but it’s hard to care about them. Right now they’re more of a “sit back and watch things happen” feature, which sounds fine until you realise there’s not much reason to actually do that. It feels like something that could be great later, but right now it’s just kind of there.

Then there’s the technical side, which isn’t great. On the Nintendo Switch 2, the game crashed three times in my first two hours. Even now I can’t play the game for more than an hour without a software error. It completely breaks the flow, especially in a game where you’re meant to settle in and slowly build something.

Money balance is also a bit all over the place. Once you get a couple of holes running, cash just starts pouring in. Suddenly you’ve got loads of money, everything’s built, everything’s upgraded, and you’re kind of just existing.

Despite all of this, there’s a good game hiding in here. When everything lines up, when your course is running smoothly and you’re playing through holes you designed yourself, it feels great. It just doesn’t stay in that sweet spot consistently enough.

Final Thoughts

Under Par: Golf Architect feels like a rough draft of something that could genuinely fill that SimGolf-shaped hole. It’s got the charm and it’s got the ideas; it just needs more polishing. If you’ve been waiting years for something like this, it’s worth a look. Just go in expecting some rough edges… and maybe save often.

About the Author

Jade Darton Jade is a web developer and Computer Science BSc student from Suffolk, UK with a passion for games and writing about them.

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