Volleyball
Phenoms

The goal

Two teams (2v2, 3v3 or 4v4) play on either side of the net. Make the ball land inside the court on the other side and you win the rally. Win enough rallies to take a set, and enough sets to take the match. You control the player with the ring under their feet; your AI teammates play the rest.

Scoring

• Every rally scores a point (rally scoring), no matter who served.
• A set is won by the first team to the points you pick in New Game (5 by default). With Win By Two on, you also need a 2-point lead.
• Matches are best of 1, 3, 5 or 7 sets. The banner warns you on set point and match point.
• The team that wins a rally serves the next one. When the serve changes sides (a side-out), that team's next player in rotation serves.

How a rally is won or lost

• In: the ball lands inside the other team's court. Landing on the line counts as in.
• Out: the ball lands outside the court. The team that touched it last loses the point, so let balls that are going out drop. A block that sends the ball out is the blocking team's fault.
• 4th touch: each team gets at most 3 touches to send the ball back. A 4th touch loses the point.
• Antenna: the ball must cross the net between the antennas at the ends of the net. Going outside one, at any height, loses the point for the team that sent it, serves included.
• The net: a ball that hits the net mesh drops on that side. A ball that clips the top tape can dribble over or fall back.

Touch rules

• The classic rhythm is bump, set, spike: pass the first touch to your setter near the net, set it up high, then jump and spike it over.
• No player can touch the ball twice in a row.
• Nobody can touch their own team's serve: it has to cross the net.
• One touch per jump: once you touch the ball in the air, you can't touch it again until you land.
• Blocks don't count toward your team's 3 touches, but the blocker can't take the next touch.
• Serves can't be blocked. Spikes and other balls coming over near the net can.

How the hits work

• Aim: you aim with the cursor on the floor. There's no lock-on: hits go toward where you aim, with some error. (Keyboard Only mode has no aiming at all: see below.)
• Distance matters: you can reach the ball from a little way off, but the farther your hands are from it, the less accurate the hit. Catch it right in the sweet spot for a PERFECT! hit.
• Sets never go over the net. A set always lands on your own side, at the spot your aim picks. Hold the set button to charge it: the longer you charge, the higher the set. Even an uncharged set clears the net height.
• Bumps are high passes: the bump (right click; in Keyboard Only mode the pass key) is a slow rainbow that comes down where you aim, on either side of the net. (In Keyboard Only mode it always goes up to the net for a teammate.) In the air it's a jump tip instead (below).
• Tips: the main hit on the ground (left click / hit) is always a soft tip over the net, on any touch: on your team's 2nd touch it sends the ball over instead of a set. It goes toward the side of the court your cursor is on, 1 to 4.5 units past the net (Keyboard Only mode: a random spot). From deep in your court it goes up higher so it still clears the net. Stretch for the ball and a tip can come up short and catch the tape.
• Jump tips: the bump in the air (right click / pass) is a tip too, pushed up softly over the net instead of spiked, so it drops in behind the block. It goes toward your cursor, 1 to 4.5 units past the net (Keyboard Only mode: a random spot).
• Spikes go in the direction you aim, not to an exact spot. Hold to charge: a light charge is a slow hit that floats up a little; a full charge is fast and drives down. The higher you hit it, the steeper it goes down. A PERFECT SET powers up the spike that comes off it. A spike right after a teammate's dive is only about half as strong, and after their high pass about a third weaker (it's tilted up so it still clears the net). A fully charged spike (the charge ring turns red) has a 35% chance to go straight through the block: a BLOCK BUSTER! It can still be dug.
• Moving while you hit carries the ball a little in the direction you're running.
• Dives reach balls you can't run down, but they're wild: they go up to 3.5 units off your aim, travel at most 4.5 units, and wobble in flight so nobody can read where they'll land. A dive on a ball right at the floor can make a PANCAKE save. You can't reach up for a ball while flat out, and while you're diving only the dive's own touch works: bumps, sets and tips do nothing until you're getting up.

Serving

• Your first click tosses the ball and jumps. Where you're aiming at that moment is locked in as your target. (In Keyboard Only mode the target is a random spot in their back court.)
• A meter sweeps while you're in the air. Hit when it's in the red zone (which moves every serve) for the most accurate serve.
• Fast serve (left click / hit): a hard, low drive. Float serve (right click / soft): slower but wobbles side to side; the closer to the red, the more it wobbles. If you don't hit at all, you float it automatically just before you land.

Blocking

• Jump near the net while the other team has the ball and you block automatically when the ball reaches your hands.
• Your reach is small, so line up with the ball's path. Moving your aim left or right (in Keyboard Only mode, holding left or right) slides your hands that way, up to a limit.
• An incoming spike can only be blocked. A soft ball can also be hit back: start a swing and you play it instead.
• Most blocks bounce back onto the hitter's side. Some are only a soft touch that pops up on your own side, and about 1 in 6 is a MONSTER BLOCK slammed straight down.
• A block that wins the point outright counts as a block in the match stats.

Keyboard Only

• Set Controls Mode to Keyboard Only in Options > Controls to play without the mouse. There's no aiming: every hit picks its own target, partly at random, but always one that keeps the rally moving. Passes go up to the net for a teammate, sets stay on your side, and anything you send over heads into their court. After that the usual error applies, as for a mouse hit: stretch for the ball and it drifts off target.
• Main hit (J by default) always tries to send the ball over. On the ground it's a tip to a random spot just over the net. In the air, hold and release to spike: it goes in a random direction that stays inside their sidelines, and the charge still decides how fast and steep it is, so how deep it lands.
• Pass (K): a high pass that comes down about 1.5 units from the net, in line with your nearest teammate, who steps up to the net to play it. In the air it's a tip to a random spot just over the net.
• Set (L): hold to charge it as usual. Its direction comes from where you stand next to the spot the pass is coming down: stand to the right of it to set to the left, to the left of it to set to the right, or right in line with it to set straight up. The farther to the side you stand, the wider the set, up to a unit outside the sideline. It comes down at a random distance from the net, inside the 10-foot line and most often close to the net.
• Dive (Shift): sends the ball roughly toward your nearest teammate, or toward their side on your team's 3rd touch. It's still a wild, desperate stab.
• Serve: the main hit tosses, and your target is a random spot in their back court (between the 10-foot line and the end line, at least a unit inside the lines). Then time the meter as usual: main hit for a fast serve, pass key for a float.
• Blocking: hold left or right while you're in the air to slide your hands.

Gameplay options

• Both are off by default: turn them on in Options > Gameplay.
• Rally Heat: every few times the ball crosses the net, the rally heats up. Hits get faster, the ball leaves a trail, and at the top levels it catches fire.
• Shot Preview draws the arc and landing spot of the hit you're lining up.

Tips for learning

• Start with 2v2 on Easy, and turn on Shot Preview in Options > Gameplay while you learn.
• Watch the landing marker and the ball's shadow, not the ball. Get to the spot early, then hit.
• On the first touch, aim your pass toward the net on your side so your setter has an easy ball.
• Press Q to call the ball when you want it. Your teammates will leave it to you.
• For a strong attack: set it high near the net, run in, jump as it starts to fall, and charge the spike on the way up. Hit at the top of your jump for the steepest spike.
• Don't touch balls that are clearly going out. If the other team hit it, that's your point.
• If the other team is setting up a spike, jump at the net in front of their hitter to block, then get back to defend.
• Press Z after a point to watch the replay and see what went wrong, or X for the Full Rally Replay of the whole point.
• Prefer the keyboard? Set Controls Mode to Keyboard Only in Options > Controls. You can change the keys there too, in either mode.