Comparison

Nova Golf vs Golf Dreams

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Realistic ball physics
  • Stunning 3D graphics
  • Unique global courses
  • Customizable characters
  • Career mode
  • Multiplayer challenges
  • In-app purchases for clubs/balls
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

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

About

Golf Dreams

Experience realistic 3D golf with true physics and innovative controls. Build your career, win prizes, and compete in tournaments or quick mini-golf matches. Challenge friends or rivals in head-to-head PvP.

Highlights
  • Realistic 3D golf simulation
  • Career mode with tournaments
  • Win and upgrade golf clubs
  • Challenging golf courses
  • Shape your shots (draw/fade)
  • PvP multiplayer matches
  • Realistic ball tracer and stats
Features
Read full description

Golf Dreams is a free golf simulation game using real physics and groundbreaking controls making it one of the most true golf games out there! * Tournaments - start your career from scratch and work your way to glory. Solo golf gameplay as it should be. * Golf clubs - win prizes in tournaments and get new clubs and upgrade them to get yourself in perfect shape and sink even more birdies. * Weekly League * Awesome golf courses inspired by real world examples from the best courses around the globe. Tee off for a relaxing round with birds chirping in the background. * Shape your shots with draw and fade golfshot. Swing, chip, flop, punch, putt and drive your way to success around the fairway and greens. Stay away from the rough, bunkers and water hazards and make your way to the top of the tour. * Mini golf tournaments and multiplayer matches with 6 holes to play. Quick game play. * PvP multiplayer. Play golf head-to-head against friends or a random rival. No waiting time. Play your golf round directly and your opponent can play their round when it suits them. * Realistic golf ball tracer and tracker with in-depth stats how you strike the golf ball. Enjoy a nice round of single player golf or challenge someone for a golf battle in one of the best golf games for free. +++ Recent Reviews +++ "Beautiful game! Very well thought out and quick to play. I have been looking for a good golf game that has a fun solo mode and this is it!" / Bradley W. "What a great bunch of engineering. The stroke is cool. The clubs play true. As does the wind. Only sad part is nobody seems to know it exists. If you play golf in real life you'll enjoy this expressly for the controls and purity of play..." / Drew D. "Best golf game out there! It's the only not to be pay to win trash. No micro transaction, just courses to buy. No chests to unblock. Also more realistic, you can choose the clubs and you don't magically know where it will land, and you also don't play a stupid timing game to play. Just feels like golf. Kudos on making this game." / Tiago S. "Lots of fun and as challenging to play as actual golf. I'm enjoying the simplicity and colors of the polygon graphics..." / Richard D. "Brilliant game, probably the closest game to a simulation. No pay to win aspects and really bright future for mobile golf games" / Daniel D. +++ Get in touch +++ Discord: https://discord.gg/3NHxcTdT5B Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/golfdreamsofficial

Screenshots

Nova Golf4 screens
Golf Dreams4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Golf Dreams at Free against Nova Golf's $1.99. Golf Dreams also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.6) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 months). Nova Golf's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On in-app purchases, monetization model, chart position and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Golf Dreams is free to download; Nova Golf costs $1.99 up front. Nova Golf sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Golf Dreams sells 21 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Golf Dreams holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Golf Dreams has 31K ratings behind it against 31, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Nova Golf's written reviews are positive against 62% of Golf Dreams's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nova Golf ships an update every 3 months, Golf Dreams every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Nova Golf versus Golf Dreams: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNova GolfGolf Dreams
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating3.6 (31 ratings)4.8 (31K ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.7% of reviews62.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3131K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#97#40 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size287 MB445 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNuclear Nova SoftwareGolf Dreams AB

Customer experience

Nova Golf

All ratings31 ratings
Positive67.7%
Neutral3.2%
Negative29.0%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive45.7%
Neutral5.4%
Negative48.9%

Golf Dreams

All ratings30,768 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews995 reviews
Positive62.4%
Neutral10.7%
Negative26.9%

Bugs and requests

Nova Golf

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Golf Dreams

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Progress loss after updates
  • Inability to add friends
  • Putting issues causing unexpected ball behavior
  • Inconsistent tournament scoring and rewards

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more courses and game modes
  • Improve club progression and unlocks
  • Implement real-time multiplayer
  • Add more customization options
  • Improve putting mechanics and controls
Show 1 more
  • Provide better feedback on player progress

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Nova Golf

One-time10
  • Extra Mulligans$0.99
  • Dozen of all Balls$1.99
  • 1,000 Experience$1.99
Show 7 more
  • 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
21 purchases

Golf Dreams

Subscriptions1
  • Pro Pass Monthly$3.991 Month
One-time20
  • Course: Sunset Valley$0.99
  • Course: Canyon Course$0.99
  • Weekly League Entry$0.99
Show 17 more
  • Silver chest$0.99
  • Pack of tickets$1.49
  • Bag of tickets$1.99
  • Course: Highland Bay$1.99
  • Course: Woody Pines$1.99
  • Gold chest$1.99
  • Pack of Gold Markers$1.99
  • Major Chest$2.99
  • Dream Pass Plus$4.49
  • Pack of Major Passes$4.99
  • Pile of tickets$5.49
  • Pile of Major Passes$7.99
  • Tickets Unlimited (Small)$8.99
  • Box of tickets$9.99
  • Premium Lifetime$9.99
  • Pile of gold markers$9.99
  • Tickets Unlimited (Large)$19.99

Questions

Is Nova Golf free?
Nova Golf costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Golf Dreams free?
Golf Dreams is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Nova Golf or Golf Dreams?
Golf Dreams is rated higher. Nova Golf averages 3.6 out of 5 from 31 ratings, while Golf Dreams averages 4.8 from 31K ratings.
Do Nova Golf or Golf Dreams have ads?
Golf Dreams shows ads; Nova Golf does not.
Which is updated more often, Nova Golf or Golf Dreams?
Nova Golf ships an update every 3 months, and Golf Dreams every 6 days. Most recently, Nova Golf was updated on October 29, 2026 and Golf Dreams on October 30, 2026.
Which is more popular, Nova Golf or Golf Dreams?
Nova Golf currently peaks at #97 in the App Store charts, and Golf Dreams at #40. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

Other comparisons