Last updated on January 4th, 2026 at 04:42 am
Nova Golf – Sports Game Review
Nova Golf is a Sports/Simulation/Entertainment game from Jacob Leveto, first launched in 22nd May 2012.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 31+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Nova Golf Stand Out
Welcome to Nova Golf, the finest golfing game on the Mac! A followup to the award winning game GL Golf, Nova Golf is sure to keep you entertained and immersed for countless hours. Redesigned from the ground up, Nova Golf has everything both casual/hardcore gamers and frequent/weekend golfers could want.
• Realistic ball physics – Everyone will enjoy the simple realism while avid golfers will be able to shape every shot and watch the ball react to all surfaces and lies
• Stunning 3D graphics – Nova Golf adapts to each computer for the best image quality while always maintaining a smooth framerate
• Unique courses – Locations from around the world feature distinct styles of both play and appearance. You'll know if you're in the Pennsylvania forest, Arizona desert, or on the Scottish coastline
• Customizable characters – Level up five playing statistics while managing each avatar's wardrobe and physical appearance
• Career mode – Play as both an amateur and professional and progress by winning the required qualifiers and tournaments
• Multiplayer – Challenge up to three of your friends and play at the same time
• Purchase custom clubs and golf balls using both virtual currency earned in game and through In-App Purchase
• High replay value – No hole is the same when varying the white/blue/green tees, five pin locations, and three environmental difficulty settings
• Custom music made specifically for Nova Golf
• Best rounds list for each course/difficulty setting
System Requirements: iOS 7+
iPhone 4+
iPad 2+
iPad Mini+
iPod Touch 4th+
If you like Nova Golf, make sure to check out Nuclear Nova's other games, all available for the Mac/iPhone/iPad/iPod.
• GL Golf, the predecessor to Nova Golf, is still actively developed and has over 35 unique courses! Thousands of golfers are posting scorecards online every day with this golf classic
• Pinball Shuffle and Pinball Massacre are two unique comic book arcade style pinball tables
• Barnyard Blaster is a unique shooter with plenty of weapons, animals, and environments
• Rocket Golf gives golf a new twist with its unique 2D side scrolling gameplay
• Liquid Defense, Hydrothermal, and Escape are our three classic puzzle/simulator games
• Fractal 3D and ASCII Art are our first non-game apps
This Sports game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Nova Golf is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 14th November 2024
Recent improvements include:
iOS 18 Support (Required)
iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, 12, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, 12 Mini, 13, 13 Mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, 14, 14 Plus ,14 Pro, 14 Pro Max, 15, 15 Plus , 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, 16, 16 Plus , 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, SE (2nd/3rd Gen) Support
iPad 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, Mini 6th, 7th, Air 4th, 5th, 6th, Pro 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th Support
Removed iAd and other game advertisements
Download & Availability
Nova Golf is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
We find it a pleasurable way to unwind. Not perfect, putting can be unfair, but Im not looking for an arcade level game on our phone.
This is the best golf game we have ever played keep up the good luck.
This game isnt bad for 2 bucks. We bought it and enjoy it except for the putting. The game has some nice courses and decent but dated graphics. What we like is that it is a pure golf game without ridiculous things like special balls, or challenges although you can have up to 4 friends play. We just like to play solo which we can. No account to sign in to but it still keeps your best scores stored locally. Our biggest gripe is the putting. It is way too difficult to read putts with their grid and moving dots. We have 4 putted some greens! The developers need to update this as well as add some famous courses. No updates in 4 years so maybe the developers have abandoned this game.
Good game lots of fun. Would be nice to see how greens run when chipping. Putting alignment needs a little improvement.
Although Nova Golf is a good game, it isn't the best. We like being able to add spin to our shot, which is one thing we haven't been able to do. Other then that, we like playing it.
Overall a decent game. Had issues with earlier versions but it seems to be stable now.
We love the old game except the putting. Tried the new game lite and thought it was okay but definitely needed full screen to appreciate. Well we bought full version and the game itself is still only 3/4 of the screen. We emailed the team and have not heard back. Im going to ask for refund. Too bad, we love the no frills golf games. They are hard to come by. This would have been a welcomed version.
We just bought several courses. How do we get to them? We don't always wants to play tournaments but just have fun. Why why select PRACTICE we get the same darn course? How do we change things. This is not very intuitive. Need some help please. :).
This game needs a lot of work and fine-tuning on the programming. A lot of times you can barely find the flagstick and when the flag is out the whole is impossible to see. The bar to get the center of the club is ridiculous to operate.
Absolute joke. Game opens in a small window in the corner of your screen and requires an unbelievable amount of in app purchases. Yeah its only $2 but this is a very misleading and disappointing game. Be careful with games by this company. A lot of work needs to be done here and perhaps a good look at their moral compass.
We want our money back, cant even play the game due to it only opening in the corner of our screen wont even go full screen!!!!!!! HOW DO we GET A REFUND.
Terrible graphics. Purchased the app but still need to make in app purchases to play. Unable to read green breaks.
Overall this game is pretty enjoyable. There are frequent long pauses between holes which could be the fault of our device or the app. We have not figured out how to add features like player bonus characteristics or additional courses. Otherwise, the graphics are OK and player control options are good and fun to use. We would recommend this app.
Fair and challenging. We're addicted. In app purchases work correctly. The developer responds quickly to inquiries. If you're a golf game junkie this game needs to be in your stable.
Just like the real thing, the more you play the better you get.
Great game. Many challenges and at times as frustrating as the real game…. We like it a lot.
Great game. Learning curve, but well worth it.
Every time we save our progress during practice when we return our first touch on the swing meter sets it at zero power no mater how quickly or lightly we tap it. This adds a stroke to every hole we play. Haven't tried it in career mode but why would we. Please fix ASAP. Thanks.
Not very happy with the app. The scenery is not good at all.
Not bad for a phone app but has some issues, some courses every time you take a stroke the ball does not stay consistent. You can have a 6 mpg cross wind, the 1st stroke can be dead on, same cross wind and the 2nd hit the same way goes way off course. Understanding loft and pitch can affect it as well… But still entertaining.
We downloaded the app on our iPhone 4. The game loads to about 91% then crashes. About one in 8 attempts the game screen loads and then crashes. We tried deleting and reloading the app. We also powered on/off our phonesame results. We haven't found anything on the web form to correct this issue. We're rating the app one star because it appears that we just wasted funds on an app does not function as advertised.
Stops every time we play game can never finish a round of golf.
Didn't poem after upgrade to new version. We deleted and redownloaded new version, and it still doesn't open. Goes to 91%, then goes black, then goes back to home. We hope it gets fixed because we like this game.
This is the worse game we have ever downloaded. We wish we could get our money back. This is so bad that we should have been paid to play it to write this review.
Awesome graphics, nice step up from GL Golf! Physics seem realistic so far after the first round, though there is a lot of variability in the shot results. Get it while it's on sale.
The greens are horrible. No green on a real golf course is pitched in such a way that the ball can roll off the putting surface as these do. This makes scoring very difficult. Also, the distinction between the fringe and the green is often imperfect. The AI calls up a putter when it should be a wedge or the AI calls up a wedge and no putter among the club selections. The desert golf course with the narrow fairways is ridiculous. That is tricking up the game when it is not necessary to do so.
Great app, have enjoyed it so far.
When we hit one frm fairway within a foot of the pin, The game will not give us any putters, had to try to Knock it in with a2 iron, witch knocked it off the green. It's hard to make par like this, we paid for this game, we demand satisfaction.
This game has a major glitch! It often gets stuck on certain holes when you make a putt it says close approach instead of awarding a score!!!!! Total b.s. We want a refund.
We like playing the game. A few issues we have is that it should have a tutorial, you should be able to un-click before you make a shot and sometime when your trying to putt it's no consistent on the shot strength meter. We really work to make the adjustments before we putt but at times it will be a poor strike of the ball like a muff or an over strike when it's really not justified.
It is a lot of fun. Decent graphics and game play. Putting however is very difficult and sometimes pin placements on edge of green hills make it impossible to play.
A poor effort to upgrade from GL golf. Everything that could go wrong has done with this POS.
We deleted it. We didn't like it.
Complete waste. Graphics are terrible. Game crashes all the time Thankfully it was only 1.99.
Nice game played a lot but after updating the ipad the game won't open please update the game soon.
Fell in love with game and then the ball started rolling; down the fairway, down the rough, through the sand and oh yeah past the incredibly unfair pin placements. Uninstalling right now.
Just flushed $2.11 down the toilet. It doesn't even work! We hate being ripped off.
Best golf game yet for the REAL golfer seeking a round, if only virtually. Doesn't focus on super-realistic graphics, but ultra real flight, spin, bounce, and roll. Can't wait for more courses.
Don't waste your $$$$$ like we did So complex you can't get it started most of the time. This game takes the fun out of video golf.
Couldn't agree more with the other comments! The consistency is horrible! Even when it makes the sound effect of a straight shot the ball has a mind of its own. Also there is a number of greens you can take 30 shots to make it- that's not "realistic" makes a guy wonder if they play their own app before selling it! We tried to stick with it and build up accuracy but no luck.
Garbage app. Download Tiger Woods instead.
Bought and deleted within minutes due to screen freezing up and game taking a minute to load. Don't make the same mistake! Thanks, Nova.
Terrible graphics and not realistic game. There are much better golf games available that are much more realistic and have much better graphics.
We started using the free version of this app and it just got better with this one. We play it all the time.
We love this game..very frustrating at times (just like real golf) especially on the Desert course. But enough practice, equipment upgrades, and leveling up make it rewarding as well.
Great game now after updates and getting better.
Simple graphics, good gameplay, putting is tough, but fair. Could use better in-game help to explain how the swing works, consequences of missing the center mark.
This is the worst game ever! In career mode, we are progressing and have updated our skills and equipment. The horrible game continues to make us hit the ball offline even when we hit a perfect shot. We hate games that punish you for doing EXACTLY what you are supposed to do! We hit enough of our own bad shot. We don't need punishment that we don't deserve. Big miss on this game! We won't waste any more of our time with this until you make it fair. We don't want to shoot par every round, but we should be able to score well when we hit good shots. Goodbye Nova Golf! We hope y'all fix this. The design is like no other game.
Unresponsive and not as customizable as the free version. Not worth it.
Very disappointed in this game the screen fonts are too small.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.160
- Size: 286.71 MB
- iOS: 18.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: Jacob Leveto
Last updated: 14th November 2024 | Genre: Sports, Simulation | Developer: Jacob Leveto