Zany Golf is a miniature golf course with both realistic and fantasy elements. As you would expect, the core gameplay involves hitting your ball multiple times to eventually reach the end hole, at which point you proceed to the next level. While each course has many differences, this page shows some elements that appear throughout the game.
Balls[edit]
This is the main object, which you are intending to get into the holes. Regardless of the number of players, player 1 will always be red, then player 2 (in games with 2 or more players) will be blue, player 3 will be black, and player 4 will be white. While one ball is active, all other balls will change into an X symbol, and nothing will be able to interact with them.
To hit the ball, you move your cursor to the ball, click on it, drag in the direction opposite of where you want to hit the ball (as though pulling back a golf club), and then when you let go the ball is hit with a speed based on how far you pulled back. There is a maximum range that you can pull back in the shape of a square.
End Hole[edit]
Usually the final objective of the level will be to have your ball end up in a hole indicated with a red flag on a pole sticking out of the hole. The pole does not physically interact with the balls, and disappears into the hole when balls come near it, and will stay down even if the only balls near it are inactive.
Stroke Counter[edit]
At the top right of the screen appear stroke counters, one for each player. This tells you how many strokes you currently have remaining until your game is over. In general the color of the counter square corresponds to the ball color, with the exception of player 4, whose counter looks identical to player 3. But they always appear in the same positions, so player 3's counter will always be on top of player 4's counter. Every time you hit the ball, the stroke counter decreases by one, and as you progress your available strokes will increase for various reasons.
Fairy[edit]
Occasionally (randomly) when you start a level, a fairy may appear at one of various possible locations in the level. A sound and a text message occur at the beginning of the level if the fairy is present. The visible but intangible fairy will stay in place for a set amount of time, during which the first ball which reaches the fairy will gain bonus strokes that are immediately added to the stroke counter of that player. Any number from 1 to 5 strokes may be awarded, so depending on the position of the fairy, it may or may not be worth going out of your way to hit it. After a set amount of time, regardless of how many turns each player has had, the fairy will disappear with a text message indicating that it is gone.
Timer Bonus[edit]
Occasionally (randomly) before you start a level, a message and sound will occur to indicate that the following hole will give bonus strokes for any player who completes it quickly enough. The amount of strokes currently available is visible at the top left as a number of circles, starting at 4 and decreasing over time until no bonus is available. This timer runs both before the player's shot when they are able to scroll around the course as well as while the ball is moving, so it is much easier to take advantage of this if you already know the course setup and don't have to look around. This bonus is separate for each player, and is only added to the stroke counter when all players have finished (or failed) the hole. Text will appear at that time to indicate how many strokes are being awarded with no indication of which player is getting what, but it will always go in order of players 1 through 4 regardless of who began the round, skipping over those who got no bonus.