Hot off the heels of the last update, we’ve got another batch of new stuff that’s just come to Bowling King!

Black Friday deals!

Firstly, we’ve got two amazing Black Friday packs on the store that offer incredible value. The amount of chips and cash given in these are packs are FOUR TIMES what you would normally get. Take a look!

Challenge Mode improvements!

We’ve also made some tweaks to Challenge Mode to make it more enjoyable.

• The time it takes for a heart to recharge has been reduced from 4 hours to 3. Now you can get back into the game quicker!
• The daily limit for heart and gift requests has been increased from 10 to 20. More free stuff!
• Finally, the rewards for clearing challenge stages have been increased. After all, you’ve earned it!

All this new stuff is now available in Bowling King on iOS and Android. If you’ve not played Bowling King yet, download it for free now from the App Store or Google Play, or you can play it in your browser on Facebook. Enjoy!

We just launched a new feature in 8 Ball Pool – Surprise Boxes! Open one up and you’ll find some awesome prizes – coins, spins, and collectible cues that you can’t get anywhere else.

How to get a Surprise Box

You can find Surprise Boxes in the mini-games section of 8 Ball Pool. You can win them as a prize in Spin & Win, or you can buy them for Pool Cash. Surprise Boxes come in three flavours: silver, gold and diamond, with bigger prizes the higher up you go. For example, a Silver box will contain a piece of a Rare cue, and up to 20,000 coins, but a Diamond one gives you a piece of a Legendary cue, up to 200,000 coins, and more!

Rare, Epic and Legendary Cues

Each Surprise Box you open will contain a piece of an exclusive, collectible cue. These are some of the best and most powerful cues in the game – as well as having great stats, they also contain special powers that the cues you’re used to don’t have. Some of them will give you extra XP when you play, helping you level up faster. Some have no recharge cost, so always stay powered up! Others will even give you some coins back if you lose your game.

Plus, they look sweet.

The stronger the cue, the more powers it will have: so a Legendary Cue will have more than a Rare one. You need to collect all 4 pieces of the cue in order to unlock it.

Good Luck!

Surprise Boxes are in the game right now, and you never know what you might find in your next one. Good luck and enjoy the new cues!

Get 8 Ball Pool free on your iOS or Android device, or play on Facebook or Miniclip.com!

Time for 8 Ball Pool’s newest feature – Rings! These new prizes are a great way of showing off your abilities and accomplishments, for players of all levels and skill!

What are Rings?

Rings give players a way to show off the amount of wins they’ve amassed in each individual tier and tournament on 8 Ball Pool. Every tier has its own Ring for you to win – all you need to do is win a certain amount of games in that tier to earn the Ring.

The Ring will then be displayed in your profile page for all to see. Your best Ring (the highest-value one) will be shown next to your player name during a match!

You can earn each ring multiple times, with the number also shown on your profile. This is a great way to show how many times you’ve been successful in a certain 1v1 tier or tournament.

Earn more VIP points

That’s not all! The first time you earn a ring for each tier or tournament, you’ll get a nice little bonus: some VIP points! Now by earning rings, we’ve added another way to increase your VIP rank and reap those tasty rewards.

Rings are coming to 8 Ball Pool on mobile very soon! If you don’t already have 8 Ball Pool, get it free now from the App Store or Google Play. Leave us a comment below or head over to the official forum to chat about this new feature and more!

We’re having an 8 Ball Pool party, and you’re all invited! We’re getting ready to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the game’s launch, and have some great in-game celebrations – including a free cue for all players – lined up for Friday 27th-29th May.

8 Ball Pool was released on Miniclip back in 2011, and quickly grew in popularity due to its accessible multiplayer action and realistic physics. A few years later, we brought the game to your mobiles on both iOS and Android, and the number of people who play Pool went through the roof. Today, millions of people play the game every single day, in every country around the world, and our official Facebook page has grown to over 19m fans.

New features have come to the game down the years, but we’ve been careful to ensure that its heart, it’s still the classic game of 8 Ball Pool that it was when it launched on Miniclip five years ago.

Whether you’re someone who only plays every now and then, or someone who plays hundreds of games a day (there are a lot of you!), or even someone who’s never played 8 Ball Pool and is thinking about giving it a try – this celebration is for you.

We invite you to come join us this Friday 27th May: we have an in-game celebration with a special cue given to all players who play on that day, plus some other neat in-game perks too. Just make sure you’re playing the game on the day to be a part of it. Spread the word and tell your friends, and thanks for being a part of our game as it turns five years old.

Play 8 Ball Pool on Facebook

Download 8 Ball Pool free on iOS

Download 8 Ball Pool free on Android

Like the Official 8 Ball Pool Facebook page

The top table is about to get tougher in 8 Ball Pool, with the addition of a new “Cushion Shot on 8 Ball” rule. This is “call pocket” for pros, as you’ll need to bank your shot on the black ball off a designated cushion, and into the pocket of your choice. Anyone who’s familiar with “indirect” pool, or fancies themselves as a bit of a trickshot superstar, will be right at home.

A major bit of feedback we get from players on the highest tiers is that the skill level is so high, that if you don’t get to break then you might not get a shot at all, as the other player may just run the table and pot every ball. We hope that this will significantly raise the skill level required to do that, meaning that it’s more likely that both players will get a chance to win the game.

The new Cushion Shot rule.

This new rule comes in a new tier – Berlin – and will drop on mobile real soon. Don’t forget, if you want to sharpen your skills at this kind of shot, there’s a Practice Mode on your mobile device.

Fancy a game of Pool? Grab 8 Ball Pool free on Android, iOS, or play on Facebook!

Hey 8 Ballers! We have a brand-new, time-limited tournament hitting 8 Ball Pool on your tablets and mobiles this weekend, and it’s unlike any tournament you’ve played in the game before.

It’s called the New York Plaza tournament, and it’s only available this weekend! We’ve started the countdown to launch, but at the end of the weekend it’ll be gone, so make sure to check it out while you can.

Secondly, the format is a little different to what you may be used to with our other tournaments. There are two rounds, with a huge prize at the end for those players who are skilled enough to claim victory.

For 30,000 Pool Coins, you can enter Round 1 of the tournament. If you win Round 1, you get your 30,000 Coins back, PLUS free entry into Round 2.

And Round 2 is where the real prize is at. The pot for winning this dwarfs anything we’ve ever had in a tournament before – there’s a massive 1 million Pool Coins for whoever triumphs in this stage (second prize is 100,000 Coins). You can also skip straight to Round 2 with a buy-in of Pool Cash or an in-app purchase.

The New York Plaza Tournament comes with its own Ring, which you’ll need five Round 2 wins to get. There’s also an exclusive New York Cue for the winner, plus a trophy for all the achievement-hunters out there.

So get ready to play 8 Ball Pool in New York this weekend! This is your only chance to grab a big prize, plus the Cue, Ring and achievement that goes with it. Best of luck out there on the table!

To celebrate the Rio 2016 Olympics , Miniclip will make 10 Marathon winners 8 Ball Pool Coin Millionaires! You will have to collect Millionaire Awards in 26 different Miniclip games to snag your chance to win the whopping amount of one million Coins.

Yay, what do I have to do to be an 8 Ball Pool Millionaire?

Becoming a Millionaire was never so easy! You will have to earn it, though. To enter the prize draw, you need to win the Super Award on Miniclip.com. To get the Super Award, you need to collect all 26 Millionaire Awards, spread over 26 games on our site. In addition to that, these are the conditions to entry the competition:

• Being a registered Miniclip user (remember to sign in to gather your Awards on your account!)
• Being over 13 Years old
• Earn the Super Award before Monday 22nd August 2016 at 01:00h PDT/09:00h BST/08:00h UTC

Soon after the closing date of August 22, we will announce the 10 winners on our 8 Ball Pool and Miniclip Facebook pages!

So, what games do I have to play?

As stated before, there will be 26 different “disciplines” in this Miniclip Olympics. You will have to earn a Millionaire Award on each one of these games to receive the Super Award. Below you will find the list of games:

1. 8 Ball Pool
2. Slither.io
3. Diep.io
4. Tanki Online
5. Agar.io
6. Soccer Stars
7. Soccer Physics
8. Basketball Stars
9. Super Soccer Noggins
10. Euro Soccer Forever
11. Happy Wheels
12. Color Switch
13. 8 Ball QFP
14. Hockey Stars
15. Strike Force Heroes
16. Free Running 2
17. Stealth Sniper 2
18. Bowling King
19. Gravity Guy
20. Dino Run
21. Commando 2
22. Urban Basketball
23. Supercar Showdown
24. MiniSoccer
25. Rio 2016 Olympic Games
26. Bowmaster Japan

Collect the 26 before the end date and you will be rewarded with the Super Award!

Now that you know what to do, head to Miniclip.com and starting getting those Awards and be one of the ten players to become an 8 Ball Pool Millionaire!

Good luck!

It’s that time of year where things get a little bit spooky… and 8 Ball Pool is no different! But as well as some creepy new cues, we also have lots of treats for our players. Here’s what’s hitting 8 Ball Pool this weekend.

New Halloween Tournament

Available this weekend only, there’s a special Halloween Tournament to play in! There’s a big prize for the winner, including an exclusive Halloween cue, and this awesome-looking Ring. The Tournament runs from 28th October and finishes on Halloween itself. What are you waiting for – scared?

Trick or Treat giveaways on our Facebook page

In the real world, trick-or-treating usually only takes place on October 31st. We thought we could do better than that, so throughout the whole weekend we’ll be having a series of giveaways on our 8 Ball Pool Facebook page. All you’ll need to do is head to the page and click to get your gift. What will you get? Only one way to find out!

Over the course of the weekend, we’ll be posting tons of giveaways on our page – but they’ll only last for a short time, and then they’re gone. There’ll be free coins and Surprise Boxes to get your hands on. Make sure you keep a close eye on our page, so you don’t miss out on any rewards!

Special cues and avatars

New premium bundles are also here for Halloween – there’s three new cues, and each one comes with a brand-new avatar for you to show off in the game. Play as the Pumpkin Man, the super-sharp Deathscythe, or even Vlad the Vampire! These new items are only available for a limited time over the Halloween period – when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Happy Halloween!

We’re really excited to be bringing all these Halloween features and items to the game. Make sure you’re celebrating Halloween this weekend in 8 Ball Pool, and don’t forget to check out our Facebook page for tons of sweet giveaways, starting on the 29th. See you on the tables!

Black Friday is right around the corner, and we have a whole host of giveaways planned on our 8 Ball Pool Facebook page. We’ll be giving away Coins and Surprise Boxes to our players, but you’ll need to be quick to avoid missing out!

Unlock the next giveaway!

Every day we’ll have a free giveaway for you, but, to get your hands on even bigger and better prizes, you’ll need to unlock them! Just keep an eye on our Facebook page for how to do this, and the next giveaway will be yours.

Be quick, don’t miss out!

When a giveaway gets posted on our page, you’ll need to move fast. Each one can only be claimed a certain number of times. Just like those Black Friday sales, when they’re gone, they’re gone! So make sure you’re keeping a close eye on the page, and you’ll be one of the lucky players to grab a giveaway.

A whole weekend of great gifts!

Sure, Black Friday is only on one day. But seeing as we’re feeling extra-generous, we thought we’d turn it into a weekend-long event! From Friday 25 to Monday 28 November, there’ll be free stuff for you to claim.

So get ready to beat the rush for these great offers! Make sure you’re already a fan of our page, and enjoy Black Friday!

What’s New at Miniclip Games – News Roundup

8 Ball Pool 

Do you play like a Pro? Then you need to look like one, too! With this slick new Professional Cue Collection, collecting Wins has never been so simple!

Play 8 Ball Pool on iOS and Android

Basketball Stars 

Basketball Stars has the pleasure to introduce: March Maniacs! Join this event to compete for exclusive rewards!

Play Basketball Stars on iOS and Android

 Soccer Stars 

Soccer Stars most recent update is a game changer! We’ve introduced Avatars, Emojis and Fun Stickers – all that you will  need to impress your opponents, and be the coolest Champion around!

Play Soccer Stars on iOS and Android

Football Strike

Recently, you may have seen fantastic game events on Football Strike, such as the Carnival Cup and Road to Japan!

Now, you can represent Real Madrid C. F. with an official Team Kit, available now! Grab it and play like a champion!

Play Football Strike on iOS and Android

Bowmasters Android

In Bowmasters, you can always count with a good deal of mayhem, and a whole lot of fun!

Now we have a new Online PVP Mode, where you battle against players from all around the world! The time is now: choose your weapon, take aim… and BLOW THEM AWAY!

Play Bowmasters on Android

Agar.io

We have recently added Leaderboards to the game, so you can see how you compare to other Agar.io players around the world!

Every week, players will enter into four separate Leaderboards – My League, Friends, Country and World – and there are prizes to be claimed for finishing in the top! The prizes will get bigger and better, the harder the leaderboard is! Leaderboard Ranking is based on total weekly trophy winnings, and these trophies can be found inside Mystery Potions. Start collecting as many as you can on Agar.io to emerge victorious!

Play Agar.io NOW on iOS and Android

 Now that you are in the loop, there is only one thing to do… Play your favorite games! 

For updates, contests, prizes and more, follow us on Facebook & Twitter & Instagram

If you ask 100 data scientists what data science is, you are very likely to get 100 different answers. Most of those answers will have some points in common. The use of algorithms to create machine learning models is one of those points, I would expect the most common of all. Big data is another. Most definitions focus on the skills needed and the technologies used. We find these definitions unsatisfying at Miniclip. We currently hold two different views that have evolved over time and that are not bound to a specific definition of what data science is.

The first view is the oldest and most pragmatic. It is interested in the output of data science. Every application that allows automation and/or interaction with data in non-traditional ways is a data product. Data products are the output of the Data Science Team. This view is very powerful since it opens our scope. There are many problems that most data scientists wouldn’t even consider because it is not in the narrow scope that they defined given a set of skills and technology. By removing skills and technology from the definition and focusing in the output we are able to pick up projects that have a large impact and often a very low cost. Our software engineers have access to visualizations that allow them to find quality issues in our games during development. Our quality engineers are able to automatically check the quality of the events our games generate. Our product owners have access to automated specialized reports. All of these are data science products.

This view impacts not only the scope of the Data Science Team but all the BI department since everyone is able to participate in the data science efforts and innovation. Many of the products we use and most of the automation the Data Engineering Team has created has this view in mind. The by-product of this is growth of all elements of the BI department. It is common to have data engineers experimenting with machine learning and even more common to have data analysts building automated systems and reports. We are all able to learn more and do more.

The second view is more recent and more philosophical. It is the view that business users without technical know-how can (and often do) have a vision that can be made reality by data science. The projects I mentioned earlier are a good example of this. My favorite one and to this day also my favorite data science project at Miniclip started with Nick, our CMO. He had a conversation with me where he said, “there’s a moment of truth in the lifecycle of our users where they’ll tend to make a purchase or to leave the game.” This sentence was the start of a family of machine learning data products that we collectively call The Moment of Truth.

This view opens up data science to the whole organization. It allows us to consider “what ifs” and discuss their use. It allows us to prototype systems and models and infer their future potential. It allows everyone at Miniclip to be part of the Data Science Team and contribute to the innovation we want it to create.

Essay By: Ricardo Vladimiro, Data Science Lead at Miniclip