Gulel Showdown: Free Slingshot Game for the Family
Every Indian childhood had a gulel, or wanted one. Gulel Showdown is a slingshot game that brings the gulel to the phone: birds loop and swoop over Delhi rooftops, and up to four players share one screen, each pulling back their own gulel. It’s free, there’s nothing to install, and it’s one of the few games where a careful grandparent can beat a quick teenager.
How to play the slingshot game
- Pick 2, 3 or 4 players, or play alone (see below). With 2 players, each takes the top or bottom half of the screen; with 4, a quarter each. Empty seats can be the computer.
- Touch anywhere in your part and drag back, just like pulling a real gulel. Drag further to shoot further, and to the side to aim the other way.
- Follow the dotted line. It shows exactly where your stone will go. Let go to shoot.
- Three stones a round, five rounds a game. The highest total after five rounds wins.
Scoring
| Shot | Points |
|---|---|
| A hit | 1 |
| Hat-trick: all 3 stones hit in one round | 2 extra |
| Golden bird (faster, may arrive after the first bird) | 2 |
| Trick shot: bounce off a bamboo pole and hit | 1 extra |
Tied at the top after five rounds? A golden tie-break round, one stone each, decides it.
The seven flight paths
Each round, the bird follows one path: straight, zig-zag, wave, circle, figure-eight, diamond, or a line with a loop. Every game uses five of them in a new order, so you can’t learn one game and repeat it. Watch the first few seconds of each round before you shoot: once you’ve seen the pattern, you know where the bird will be.
Wind, and how to aim off
The flag in the middle of the screen shows the wind. Wind pushes your stone sideways, so aim a little into it. Soft, slow shots drift the most, so in a strong wind a harder, flatter shot is easier to place. On Hard, it’s windy every round.
Tips to aim better
- Lead the bird. Aim where it will be when the stone arrives, not where it is now.
- Shoot at the turn. On a circle or zig-zag, birds slow down where they change direction. That’s your moment.
- Don’t spend all three stones at once. A miss on Normal and Hard makes the bird dart away fast for a moment. Let it settle.
- Gamble on gold, carefully. Waiting for a golden bird can win the round, or leave you with three stones and no time.
- Try the bamboo poles. The aim line shows the bounce, so trick shots are less luck than they look.
Great shots are replayed in slow motion after the round, which is exactly as satisfying as it sounds.
Playing alone
Tap Play alone: beat 5 rivals and climb the ladder: Chhotu, Pinky, Bunty, Guddu Bhaiya and finally Ustad ji, the mohalla legend. Beat Ustad ji for the Gulel Ustad badge.
A note for parents
The birds are cartoons, and part of the fun is the slow-motion replay. A real gulel is a different matter: never aim one at birds, animals or people.
Questions people ask
How many people can play on one phone?
Up to 4, each in their own part of the screen. A tablet or laptop makes four-player games easier.
What do Easy, Normal and Hard change?
The size and speed of the birds, how strong the wind is, and how often a golden bird turns up. On Easy the aim line even bends with the wind. On Normal and Hard a near miss makes the bird dart away, and on Hard it’s windy every round.
Can I play it in a family tournament?
Yes. Gulel Showdown is one of the games in the family games tournament.
Play Gulel Showdown · More in Family Face-Off
