Play Gully Badminton • Free

A shuttle does not fly like a ball. It leaves the racket fast, slows down sharply as its feathers catch the air, and then drops almost straight down. A clear goes high and lands near the back line, a drop dies just over the rope, a drive stays flat and fast, and a smash comes down steep. Watching how a shot leaves the racket tells you where to run.

Your swing reaches a little in front of and behind you, and up above your head. The best spot is just in front of you, so try to be under the shuttle a moment early rather than chasing it. When it flies above the top of the screen, a small arrow at the top shows where it is.

Each of the 80 opponents has a habit. The All-rounder plays steady rallies with no tricks. The Smasher hits anything above the rope, so keep it low. The Lobber sends it sky-high to your back line, and the Net hugger stands at the rope, so clear it over their head. The Chappal steady is slow on their feet but never misses, so make them run. The Driver hits flat, fast drives at you, and the Retriever gets to everything, so be patient. The Trickster mixes deep clears with sneaky drops, and the Ace server puts tricky serves right on the lines. The Slow starter is sleepy at first, so win the early points; the Fighter plays best when behind, so close it out; and the Show-off jump-smashes everything but misses some.

Every area has ten opponents, and the tenth is its champ, who plays to 15: Pappu Dada, king of the gully; Chhotu Chacha on the terrace; Mahant-ji in his chappals at the temple; PT Sir, whistle and all, at the school; Lala-ji, who owns half the market; TT Sahab, who checks every line, at the railway colony; Ghat Dadi, grandma of the ghat; and Golden Guddu, the colony champion. Beat a champ and a diya lights up on the rangoli.

Gully Lane: washing hangs over the court from the third match. A shuttle that flies into the clothes is caught, and whoever hit it loses the point. From the sixth match a neighbour's window juts out over your side, and a shuttle that hits it brings the uncle out to scold you, which also costs the hitter the point.

Rooftop Terrace: gusts sweep across the roofs and push the shuttle sideways. The bunting and a wind tag at the top of the screen warn you just before. Later matches hang washing on the terrace too.

Temple Courtyard: an old peepal tree leans over the court. A shot into its leaves drops straight down, and now and then one sticks, losing the hitter the point. In later matches the branches reach over your side as well.

School Ground: the verandah's ceiling fan swats anything that flies into it, and whoever hit it loses the point. A second fan turns on your side later on.

Market Chowk: a cow ambles through the court between the vegetable carts. A shuttle that lands on her back bounces off and stays in play. From the fifth match scooters cut through as well, and the rally stops and the point is played again.

Railway Colony: when the local train rushes past behind the court, its wind pushes the shuttle the way the train is going, and the signal turns green just before. From the fourth match the monsoon arrives: a wet shuttle is heavy and falls short, and the lane is slippery, so you are slower to start and to stop.

River Ghat: a steady breeze off the water drifts the high shots, and a pennant shows which way it blows. It changes now and then, and later matches add gusts on top.

Colony Final: the whole society is watching under fairy lights, and the power can go out for a few seconds at a time. The lights flicker first, phone torches come on in the balconies, and the white shuttle is what you follow until the generator kicks in. Each match in the final adds a mix of the earlier troubles.

The first time a hazard turns up, the lane dims, a spotlight falls on it, and a card explains what it does while a ghost shuttle shows it off. The opponents have to deal with the hazards too, and a shot of theirs that goes into the washing or the fan is your point.

Every area has three side goals, which you can meet in any of its matches. They ask for things like a rally of 10 shots, 3 smash winners in a match, 2 aces, 8 perfect hits, 5 points in a row, winning from 4 points down, holding an opponent to 4 points or fewer, making the fan swat 2 of their shots, or winning without a hazard costing you a point. The goals are listed on each area's card on the rangoli.

Coins come from three places: 10 for each new star, 5 for every win, and 50 for each side goal the first time you meet it. Gully Rally pays 1 coin for every 5 points you score.

Coins are spent at the Steel Almirah, a tall steel cupboard whose doors swing open to show what is inside. Rackets hang on the left door and a mirror is on the right, caps sit on the top shelf, tees hang on the rail, and shuttles are kept in the drawer. Pick an item and its paper tag shows what it does and what it costs, with Buy or Wear.

The five rackets change how you play, each rated for power, control and reach. The Lane Racket you start with is even all round. The Wooden Classic has the most control, for cleaner hits. The Steel Frame hits hardest, with a steeper smash. The Long Reach gets to the far ones, and the Gold Thread is top in all three.

Everything else is for looks: a sweatband, a cricket cap, round specs or a gamcha over the shoulder; six tees from Marigold to Night Navy; and five shuttles, from plain white feathers to the Diya Glow, which leaves a warm streak of light. The shuttles all fly the same.

Gully Rally is an endless rally in the lane against Chintu, your first opponent. Every clean return you make scores a point, and a winner he cannot reach scores three. Losing a point costs one of your three lives. As your score climbs, Chintu gets sharper and the play gets quicker; at 25 points the washing comes out over the court, and at 60 the uncle's window joins it.

Your best score is kept, and shown on a plaque on the trophy shelf.

The trophy shelf keeps what you have won. Each area has a cup that grows as you play there: bronze for beating its champ, silver for winning all ten of its matches, and gold for three stars on every one. Every side goal you meet hangs a medal on the shelf, and the Gully Rally plaque shows your best score. Pick any of them to read what it is for.

All the sound is made in code: the swish of the racket, the pock of the shuttle, the chalk on the board, the cheers from the balconies, and each place's own air, from rooftop wind and rain to the ceiling fan, the train, the generator, crickets, market chatter and the river. Each area has its own tune on tabla, tanpura and a lead such as flute, harmonium, santoor or shehnai. The speaker button or the M key turns it off, and the game follows the site's mute as well.

Your stars, coins, side goals, the gear you own and wear, your Gully Rally best, the hazards you have already met and your sound setting are saved on Unihfy Games in this browser.