8-Ball Pool

8-ball is the pool game you find in clubs, college common rooms and cafés everywhere. Fifteen numbered balls start racked in a triangle: the solids, numbered 1 to 7, the stripes, 9 to 15, and the black 8 in the middle. You claim one group, sink all seven, then pot the 8 to win. Play the computer at five levels, from a beginner who misses a lot to a player who sets up the next shot, or pass one phone between two players.

How to play

• Drag anywhere on the cloth to aim. The dotted line shows the first ball the cue ball will touch, and the yellow line shows where that ball will go.
• Pull the power cue at the side of the table down and let go to shoot. The further you pull, the harder the shot. With a mouse you can also pull back from the cue ball like a slingshot.
• For small corrections, drag the ridged fine-aim wheel, or use the arrow keys (hold Shift for tiny steps).
• Tap the spin ball to choose where the cue strikes the cue ball: high for follow, low for draw (the cue ball comes back), or to one side to change its angle off a cushion.

Rules

Break from behind the line at your end of the table. The table is open after the break: the first ball you pot legally decides your group, and your opponent takes the other. Pot one of your own balls and you keep shooting; miss, and the turn passes. Once your seven are down, call nothing, just pot the 8. If the 8 drops before your group is cleared, or on a shot where you foul, you lose the rack. An 8 that falls on the break is simply put back on its spot.

Fouls

It is a foul to sink the cue ball (a scratch), to miss every ball, to touch a ball of the other group (or the 8 too early) first, or to make contact without any ball reaching a cushion or a pocket afterwards. After a foul your opponent gets ball in hand: they can drag the cue ball anywhere on the table before shooting.

Tips

• Think one shot ahead. A gentle pot that leaves the cue ball near your next ball beats a hard one that sends it flying.
• Use draw to stop the cue ball from following an object ball into the pocket, and follow to roll through for position.
• Side pockets only take balls that arrive fairly straight. Thin cuts along the rail are easier into the corners.
• With nothing on, play safe: roll one of your balls to a cushion and leave the cue ball far from your opponent's group.
• On levels 4 and 5 the guide line is short. A rewarded ad gives you the full predicted path for one shot when you need it.