LOL yes there is a bit of that. Points are based on how many of your team balls are closest to the little ball (cochonnet, means little pig in French). So if your team has 2 closest and the other team the 3rd closest your team gets 2 points. If all 4 of yours are closer than the other than you win all 4 points. So if you are down 3 or 4 points sometimes it pays to just smash the entire thing apart, move the little ball or knock the other players’ balls out of range. Because they are small steel balls, a tiny bit larger than hand grenades but spherical and heavy, it makes a great crashing sound! You do have to stand back lol.
You know, it makes me think of the feeling I get when I hold a really large, dense, polished stainless steel ball bearing...I just have an irresistible urge to see how it acts as a projectile!
So...yeah. That aspect of the game you describe (Pétanque) would appeal to me. Doing it within the rules, of course! I imagine the object must be to hit at exactly the right angle and amount of force so that your ball goes as far into the distance as theirs does...
And because they are made out of steel instead of wood, the transfer of energy to their ball is going to have far less loss in the handoff as would be greater in two softer substances like wood. Changes the dynamic, I’ll wager.