Ah, 8 Ball Pool. Simplest game in the world: just hit the ball into the pocket. But there are some things that you may not know about our game, even if you’ve played thousands of matches. Even if you eat, sleep and breathe 8 Ball Pool. Yep, here are seven things you probably didn’t know about the beautiful game.
Tap to Aim
In 8 Ball Pool, the closer you get to potting the black ball, the less time you’ll have to line up your shot. In cases like this, Tap to Aim can be the difference between winning or losing. All you have to do is activate Tap to Aim in the Settings menu on mobile, and then just tap your finger on the ball you want to aim at during a game – and like magic, the cue will reposition.
This is especially handy if you’ve just potted a ball at one end of the table, and you now want to pot one at the other end. Instead of dragging the cue with your finger, you can just tap on the screen and you’ll be in position. Of course, Tap to Aim doesn’t line up the shot perfectly: you’ll still need to adjust your aim in order to pot the ball. But it can save you some time and make sure you’re never rushing that last crucial shot.
Vibrating
Maybe you’re a busy person, and you like to play 8 Ball Pool on your mobile while doing something else – watching TV, cooking a nice meal, or maybe talking to friends. (It’s okay, we’re totally not offended that you aren’t giving 8 Ball Pool your 100% undivided attention. No really. It’s fine. IT’S FINE, OKAY?)
Anyway. If you are a multitasking kind of person, then the Vibrating setting is for you. Turning this on means that your mobile will vibrate when your opponent’s turn ends, and play switches to you. This means that you’ll never miss your shot because you were too busy slicing onions or watching football or… playing pool in real-life.
Poolception.
Practice without guidelines
Want to try the no guideline tiers, but are put off by the high stakes? We added the option to practice offline on mobile with no guidelines, so you can familiarize yourself with how it works. Just use the Disable Guideline in Offline Mode option, then choose Practice Offline from the menu, and play without guidelines to your heart’s content. Once you’ve got the hang of it, get online and take on the world!
This shot is definitely going in. I think.
“Shhh.”
There’s always some cheeky player who will try to put you off by sending you a chat message just as you’re about to pot the black. Personally, we find that this just makes victory even sweeter when that 8 Ball drops. But if you’re the kind of person who would not take the risk of being distracted, you can activate Ignore Chat Messages in Settings, and enjoy your victory in peace. Shhh.
Customize your controls
There are two options in the Settings menu on mobile that we recommend you experiment with: Power Bar Location and Power Bar Orientation. These shift where the power bar appears in the game. Sure, you may be used to its current position – but maybe you’ll find your game improved even more if you move them elsewhere. Give it a shot and see what works best for you.
Check it out – power bar on the right.
Tweak the sensitivity
We sometimes get messages from mobile players who find it tricky to make a precise shot because the cue control is too sensitive. We also get messages from players who say that it’s not sensitive enough. Fortunately, you can tweak the sensitivity in Settings – have a play around and see if it improves your game.
Focus Mode
Here’s one for those who play 8 Ball Pool on Miniclip.com, and it’s called Focus Mode. It’s a shiny blue button that removes all “distractions”, like the other games and animations that sit around the game, so you can focus purely on Pool. Players who use Focus Mode have been shown to be around 73% better than those who don’t*. So if you’re playing on Miniclip, check out this mode.
* Based on this survey that I just made up
Click the blue button at the bottom and you’ll get FOCUS MODE – no distractions.
We hope you learned something new from these Pool Pro-Tips! If you’ve got some other things to share that you think some players may not know, or if you just want to gloat and say “I already knew all this, duh!”, then hit the comments section below. Or, click here to start playing now!