Arcade
Pool.
8-ball pool on a garden table: break the rack, claim solids or stripes, clear your seven balls and then sink the 8. Play the computer at Easy, Normal or Hard, or pass the device to a friend.
All agesAge guidance
Preparing your game…
How to play
Goal. Pot your seven balls, solids or stripes, then the 8. The first player to sink the 8 cleanly wins the rack.
The break and an open table
- Fifteen balls are racked in a triangle with the 8 in the middle. Place the cue ball anywhere behind the head line, the faint line across the left quarter of the table, and break.
- A legal break pots a ball or sends at least four balls to a cushion. A weak break is a foul and your opponent gets ball in hand.
- After the break the table is open: you may hit any solid or stripe first, but not the 8. The first ball you legally pot after the break makes that group yours.
Turns and fouls
- You keep shooting as long as you pot at least one of your own balls on a legal shot. Otherwise the turn passes.
- It is a foul if the cue ball drops (a scratch), touches no ball, hits a ball of the other group or the 8 first, or if after contact no ball is potted and no ball reaches a cushion.
- After any foul your opponent has ball in hand: they may place the cue ball anywhere on the table before shooting. Balls potted on a foul stay down.
Winning with the 8
- When all seven of your balls are down, the 8 becomes your target. Hit it first and pot it in any pocket to win; there is no need to call the pocket.
- You lose the rack if you pot the 8 before your group is cleared, scratch on the shot that pots the 8, or pot it after hitting another ball first.
- An 8 that drops on the break is placed back on the foot spot and the breaker continues.
Computer levels and two players
- Easy aims loosely and sometimes picks a harder pot than it needs. Normal takes the simplest open pot with a steady cue.
- Hard test-plays its best options on the same table physics you play on, adds a little follow or draw when it helps, prefers shots that leave another pot, and misses far less often.
- Choose Friend in the settings to play two players on one device. Your game is saved in this browser after every shot.
Tips
- Aim at the ghost ball: the circle on the guide line shows where the cue ball will be when it touches the object ball. The solid line from that ball shows roughly where it will travel, and the dotted line shows where the cue ball heads after contact.
- Softer shots are more accurate and keep the cue ball near the middle of the table. Save full power for the break and long, straight pots.
- With ball in hand, place the cue ball a short distance behind an easy ball in line with a pocket. When nothing is on, roll gently into one of your balls so a cushion is still touched.
- Use the small cue ball beside the power slider for spin: low for draw to bring the cue ball back, high to follow through, left or right to change its angle off a cushion. The dotted line after contact bends with follow and draw.
Credits
- An original Leaf Arcade game: table physics, rules, computer opponent and garden artwork were all made for this site.
- The physics run in fixed small steps, so the same shot always gives the same result, spin included. Side spin changes the angle off cushions; there are no jump or swerve shots.
Controls
- Drag on the table to aim; the guide line shows where the cue ball meets the first ball. Pull back from the cue ball and release to shoot, or set the power slider and press Shoot. Keyboard: ← → aim (hold Shift for fine turns), ↑ ↓ power, Space or Enter shoots. With ball in hand, drag the cue ball to place it, or move it with W A S D (Shift for small steps). Spin: tap or drag on the small cue ball beside the power slider (top for follow, bottom for back spin, left or right for side), or focus it and use the arrow keys; Centre resets it.
