Read the row.
Find the link.

What do the 1 / 2 / 5 rows mean?

In Z Ball: 1v1 Star Cluster UNC, a ball captured in the near row earns 1 base point; the middle row earns 2; the far row earns 5. These are Z Ball’s rules. You do not need a physical-sport rulebook to begin.

The higher-value row has fewer slots. Aiming at five points gives you a valuable target, but placement and the balls already captured also matter.

How direct-link bonuses work

When your new ball is captured immediately beside one of your own captured balls in the same row, that new direct link adds the row’s value again. Making a link on both sides adds two bonuses.

For a newly captured ball, count its own base points and the links it creates: row value × (1 + new direct links). Existing links elsewhere are not counted again just because your row is longer.

A gap breaks a direct link. An opponent’s ball beside yours does not make a same-owner link. A ball in another row does not become a direct neighbour for this bonus.

Three landings. Three results.

These examples describe the points added by one new capture, assuming the neighbouring balls are already yours.

For example, filling the middle-row gap between two of your balls earns 2 base points + 2 + 2 = 6 for that capture. It creates two direct links. Extending an existing middle-row group at one end creates one new link, so that capture adds 4, even if the group contains more balls.

Far-row placement between your two existing balls adds 15. That is a possible scoring result, not a promise that the shot is easy or always the right choice.

Make your first shots explainable

1. Pick a row. Before releasing, name its base value.
2. Read the neighbours. Look for an open slot immediately beside your colour, or a gap between two of yours.
3. Change one input. Keep a similar angle and vary the pull-back power, then compare where the ball lands.
4. Check what actually happened. A bank or collision can change the result. Compare the captured position and newly formed links with your intended shot.

Start in Practice before a competitive match. Our Android controls and friend-play guide explains the gesture, Couch Clash on one phone and Online 1v1.

If scoring surprises you, send the mode, the row and a screenshot of the result through Zyntra support. Specific, honest feedback helps; no positive rating is required.

Are these Star Cluster Ball or UNC Ball rules?

This page explains our Android game. The physical sloped-table format appears under names including Star Cluster Ball, UNC Ball, YoTyan and 星罗球 (Xing Luo Qiu). Those names do not establish one universal rule set. For a physical match, use that organiser’s rules.

Z Ball is Zyntra’s independent interpretation, with its own rules and no official sport-brand affiliation. Our guide to the physical sport and its names links to the original explanations.