Walkabout Mini Golf's New Forgotten Fairyland course delivers creepy fall vibes

Written by Eric Hauter on 10/9/2025 for QW2   QW3  

There are few things more exciting to me in video games than exploring an abandoned amusement park. Some of my fondest memories from the Fallout series involve running up and down the tracks of decrepit old roller coasters or simply walking among the silent games booths and imagining what they must have been like when the lights were lit, and the music was playing. I’ve never been to an abandoned park in real life (I do love TV documentaries about them) but I have been inside Sandusky, Ohio’s Cedar Point after closing in the summer and once on a snowy winter day. The experience in both cases was both creepy an enticing; you are in a liminal space where there should be sound and activity, and instead everything is silent and still.

I’m not sure what about abandoned parks entices me. Maybe it’s the discordance between what your mind thinks should be, and what really is. Maybe it’s the thrill of being in a space to which you shouldn’t have access. Either way, the new Forgotten Fairyland course in Walkabout Mini Golf captures the mood I’m speaking about perfectly.

If you haven’t played Walkabout Mini Golf, you might be wondering how a VR putt-putt course could deliver such a specific mood and tone (veterans of the game are already nodding and jamming on the “Buy Now” button). To fill in the uninitiated, if there is one thing that Walkabout Mini Golf delivers in spades, it’s an incredible sense of space and location.

Each of the themed courses in Mighty Coconut’s amazing game is meticulously placed in some of the most well-articulated video game worlds I’ve been in. Sure, graphic fidelity might feel a little polygonal and low-res in screen shots, but I assure you that when you are enveloped in the game’s worlds, it is a complete and total vibe.

Forgotten Fairyland places its 18 themed holes in an abandoned Mother Goose and fairy story-based amusement park. The holes are carefully tucked in among carnival games, refreshment stands, and broken down rides. As usual with Walkabout Golf courses, the holes contain themed challenges that tie directly into the environment. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I can say that you’ll be directly interacting with some of the games, rides, and attractions in the park as you work your way through the course.

Like all Walkabout Courses, if you finish the easy version of the course at Par or under, or find more than ten hidden golf balls, the hard version of the course becomes available. This alters the mood of the course significantly. The easy course takes place at night, with the park’s remaining lights lit and some of the still-functioning rides whirling and chugging about (and yes, you can ride them).

But the hard version of the course is set in the cold, gray light of day, which - believe it or not – is even creepier. There is a stillness at work here, and the park seems even more run down and decrepit in the fog. If you’ve been needing to get into a chilly fall mood, this is the course for you.

Of course, none of these vibes would matter if the game wasn’t also ridiculously fun to play. I’m happy to report that the mini golf gameplay in Forgotten Fairyland is some of the Mighty Coconut’s best. The challenge level on this course is varied, with a slow build that culminates with some fairly shocking challenges towards the end.

I’ve barely been able to squeak out par on the easy version of the course by getting far ahead on the early holes to compensate for when it all goes to hell on the diabolical back half of the course. The 18^th hole, as usual, is a complete ball-breaker, and I still haven’t figured out the correct line through it. The hard version of the course – well, it’s probably best not to discuss my performance there. I’ve mostly been reduced to chagrined fits of laughter as I flail about and swear my way through it.

I’ve found all 18 hidden golf balls on the easy course. I found 15 of them on my first time through but was completely stumped on the last three (9, 16, and 17, for the record). I slept on it and tried again the next day and found them almost instantly. But I’ve made little progress on the Fox Hunt on the hard course, which is something of a treasure hunt that eventually opens up a custom putter for use throughout the game. I’m going to have to wait for a walkthrough video for that one.

I’ve been steadily working my way through the entire backlog of Mighty Coconut’s courses, and Forgotten Fairyland is easily in my top five, maybe even my top three. I just can’t get over the clever ideas and execution here; the entire concept is perfect for lighting up the pleasure centers in my brain. I wouldn’t want to be one of the sad spirits trapped forever in Forgotten Fairyland, but I certainly don’t mind extended visits.

Take a look for yourself. Forgotten Fairyland releases today for Walkabout Mini Golf for $3.99.