Nova Golf vs Golf Orbit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nova Golf
Experience a realistic and immersive golf simulation with stunning 3D graphics and diverse courses. Customize your character, compete in career modes, and challenge friends in multiplayer. Earn virtual currency or use in-app purchases for custom clubs and balls.
- Realistic ball physics
- Stunning 3D graphics
- Unique global courses
- Customizable characters
- Career mode
- Multiplayer challenges
- In-app purchases for clubs/balls
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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
Golf Orbit
Master your golf swing in this engaging offline game. Aim for distance and accuracy by tapping at the perfect moment to launch the ball. Enjoy realistic graphics and challenging gameplay that tests your timing and skill on the virtual green.
- Perfect tee shot simulation
- Intuitive tap-based controls
- Angle and strength adjustment
- Stunning graphics
- Offline gameplay
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Experience the thrill of the perfect tee shot with Golf Orbit! This simple yet challenging golf game tests your timing and skills as you aim to send the ball as far as possible. With intuitive controls and stunning graphics, you'll feel like you're really on the green. In each level, you'll use your golf club to drive the ball towards the hole. The angle and strength of your shot is determined by tapping the moving arrow when it reaches the optimal position (indicated in green). But beware — it's not as easy as it sounds. You'll need to hit the ball at just the right moment, or your shot will be a fail. Contact us for support: contact@tap-nation.io Visit our website: https://www.tap-nation.io Our Privacy Policy: https://www.tap-nation.io/legal-notice
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Golf Orbit at Free against Nova Golf's $1.99. Golf Orbit also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.5) and ratings volume (59K vs 26). Nova Golf's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (46% vs 25%). On update cadence, in-app purchases, monetization model and chart position there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Golf Orbit is free to download; Nova Golf costs $1.99 up front. Nova Golf sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Golf Orbit sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Golf Orbit holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Golf Orbit has 59K ratings behind it against 26, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 46% of Nova Golf's written reviews are positive against 25% of Golf Orbit's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Nova Golf ships an update every 3 months, Golf Orbit every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nova Golf | Golf Orbit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.5 (26 ratings) | 4.7 (59K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 45.7% of reviews — better | 25.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 26 | 59K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #194 | #159 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 287 MB | 272 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nuclear Nova Software | TapNation |
Customer experience
Nova Golf
Golf Orbit
Bugs and requests
Nova Golf
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Golf Orbit
Reported bugs
3 issues- Game crashes and resets progress
- Ball physics issues (bouncing backwards, getting stuck)
- Jackpot spin not working as intended
Requested features
3 requests- More diverse environments and challenges
- Reduced ad frequency
- Reasonable one-time purchase option to remove ads
In-app purchases
Nova Golf
- Extra Mulligans$0.99
- Dozen of all Balls$1.99
- 1,000 Experience$1.99
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- Course Pack 1$1.99
- Driver$1.99
- Course Pack 2$1.99
- Level Overdrive$1.99
- Character Pack$1.99
- Course Pack 3$1.99
- Course Pack 4$1.99
Golf Orbit
- Weekly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$7.997 Days
- Monthly Premium Subscription$19.991 Month
- Yearly Premium Subscription$99.991 Year
- Handful of Gems$1.99
- Pile of Gems$4.99
- Chest of Gems$9.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Bathtub of Gems$49.99









