Pocket Run Pool Reviews

I won’t lie: I had my doubts about Pocket-Run Pool at first...it looked too simplistic. But then I broke and ran out a standard game after a few tries without missing for some 600 points and everything changed.

It’s the simplicity that makes the game work. Touch and drag to aim, touch the arrows to bring up the cue, then touch and drag again to shoot. You don’t have to worry about things like putting English on the cue ball...but you still need a decent head for angles to play this game well. The easy-on-the-eyes presentation gives it a “just one more game” addictiveness that made paying $4 for the full version a no-brainer for me.

I would like to see a more traditional rule set — 9 ball would be nice — added into this, but this is a minor quibble. You’ll have fun with this indie gem.

I’ve played this game off and on for awhile. I really liked how I could just play a few games pretty quickly. The ads are out of hand. I can understand the need for ads, I get it, but these ads are bugged and appear way too often. I opened PocketRunPool and realized I needed more bank money, so I watched an ad. After the ad, PocketRunPool crashed. I reopened money was taken from the bank for something. I then go back to play a tournament, and the screen popped up for another ad which then crashed PocketRunPool again. I reopened noticed that money was gone from the bank again and was finally able to play the tournament. So not only so these ads crash PocketRunPool , they also happen every game. The screen pops up and stares that they know everyone hates ads and you won’t see one for 3 games, however, it’s every game. This used to be really fun to just waste some time on and I really supporting developers who don’t use micro transactions for their apps, but this game went really downhill and needs an update.

You’d think that after 4 years in development, it’d be worth the wait. But despite its tremendous track record, the game still has bugs and clips you hate so much, your fist just goes through your wall. Billiards requires precise aim, a clear mind, and an ample amount of skill. However, PocketRunPool solely relies on luck and your wallet. There is no spins which already makes the game several times more difficult. Releasing your finger will, more often than not, completely offset your original aim. The hit boxes for the holes are still not rounded and balls could clip right through edges or bounce despite not hitting anything at all. The table has no markers which makes calculating trajectory nearly impossible. Most of all, there is no power indicator. Your shots will always be inconsistent because there is not consistency in the first place. You have to “flick” the screen to shoot. That’s just a roundabout way to say, “we are scamming you out of your time”. Just play 8ball pool or game pigeon. Both of which have a much larger and user friendly community

PocketRunPool is really cool and the concept is fantastic. It’s a great twist on traditional “pocket pool”. My only issue is the advertisements. I don’t take issue with there being ads, I know they are necessary for developers, but only that they are SO frequent. After every rack, a screen pops up with the little “we know ads are no fun” message, and at the bottom it says “the next ad will be in 3 games”. But it never fails, the very next game, BOOM another ad. Game after game after game, always in a row. Whatever algorithm they use to detect when to play ads needs to be updated, because I find myself closing PocketRunPool after the 3rd or 4th time this happens. I enjoy the game, but all the ads are super long and appear in between EVERY SINGLE game. It ends up being more hassle than it’s worth.

I have tried many pool games for the phone but they all try to simulate a 3D experience with everything swishing around with the point of view of the stick as if you were in a first person shooter. I avoid those on a small device. This, however is a perfect distillation of basic pool physics into a friendly handheld game. The quick play and optional high stakes and break of the week make it interesting attractive for a few minutes or an hour.
My only request is that for standard play, there be an option to go back a shot or two to do them over so you can see how a different aim or push strength would send the game in a different direction. I’ll confess that I want that so I can practice shots I continue to miss. Great game.

Please enable iCloud syncing! Logging in to Game Center isn’t enough for my past medals and ongoing streak to transfer to my new phone.

I like this game a lot—so much that I’ve paid for it—but there are moments when it’s SO SLOW! I understand that the shoot isn’t over until all the balls have stopped moving, but I’m going crazy with how often the whole game just pauses after all the balls have rolled to a stop while I wait to be allowed to set up the next shot. (This is especially infuriating during time-limited high-stakes games. If I’m constantly waiting 5-10s after all the balls have stopped to take the next shot, my chances of clearing the table in 2:45–let alone 2:00!—are slim.)

This is definitely a fun Pool game that can be either competitive or relaxing, depending on the mood. However, there are a few things that kept this game from staying on my phone;
The “flick” motion can definitely be fun, and is more engaging, however it does make it a little harder to gauge your strike speed, and it is extremely unappealing when you have tired or small hands that can’t make the motion without changing the way the phone is held. I would absolutely love to see a slider option, which would also add to casual appeal. I’ve also noticed that some of the game physics are not entirely correct, that being said the friction is, but the directional displacement can be a little off sometimes. Overall the game is very nice!

The key to this game are the “conditions”. Some are easy. But most are difficult.

You spin for a condition. If you don’t like the condition you get, you can spin again. But that will cost you.

And that’s where the game is rigged. When you spin again, very often you’ll get that exact same difficult condition again! Spin and get Cuewall (a difficult condition). Spin again, and get Cuewall again.

I’ve played about 30 games so far. And I’ve already spun Cuewall three times in a row, twice. What are the chances of that happening randomly, even once? It’s very low. Maybe it’s 1 in 1000. But it’s happened twice for me. So either I’m the unluckiest person in the world, or this game is rigged.

The game evidently forces the more difficult conditions on you. That way, you’ll lose more frequently. And then the developer hopes you’ll spend money for a rebuy.

And that’s a pity. The idea behind this game is great. Rigging the conditions, that’s not so great.

On edit:
I’ve played about 20 more games. It’s almost amusing to try to predict what rigged “condition” will come up next. I’ll spin for a condition. Almost always, a difficult one will come up. It could be Perfect Run or Cuewall, for example. (An easy condition, like Inflate/Deflate, that you will almost never see.) So I spin again. Again, it’s almost always one of the more difficult conditions. What fun!

I enjoyed PocketRunPool for a while as I kept challenging myself to improve my score. It has a cool concept with how the scoring works, but there are limitations in other areas. There is no way to control the English on the ball. I do not find the physics accurate as the cue ball seems to fly around in strange trajectories in relation to how I hit it, in my opinion. The table seems quite small and out of ratio with the size of the balls too. I also find the power control quite awkward when striking with the cue stick. Seems the sensitivity of a hit is lacking, so it’s too all or nothing...a bit frustrating. I do appreciate the different take on a pool game, the overall new concept, but would love to see better player control options.

Overall this game is fantastic. I find myself playing it in school and when I have 5 minutes of downtime now and then. However, there are quite a few issues with the ads. The ads play every 3 games but I frequently find the ads to be more often than the three game rule. I will absolutely buy the ad free version at some point but it currently is a little messed up. I would like to see this fixed at some point but otherwise it’s the perfect time burner.

I could see myself playing this all the time. It has that great “one more round” quality, and is (in theory) an ideal bite-sized mobile game. Have tried other pool games and this one seems best suited for mobile. It’s not trying to be a sim, more like boiling pool down to its essence.

However, it feels more like a proof-of-concept than a polished product. Mainly, the ball rolling physics are unrealistic and unpredictable, making it impossible to gauge how a shot will play out, or to develop a feel for it. It’s almost like the balls are being slowed down prematurely (to keep gameplay moving?).

Likewise with the force needed for the cue. Sometimes you’ll wildly overshoot, others barely tap the cue ball (which will then roll to a stop immediately). Impossible to develop a feel—unrefined mechanic.

Lastly, the flat graphics, rather than give the impression of a thought-through design aesthetic, seem more like a first draft, and are ultimately not quite up to what I would expect in a paid release. Doesn’t “delight”.

Overall everything here (graphics, physics, music, controls, etc) are at about 70%.

Really hoping these issues are refined, because if they can nail this it’ll be awesome! :)

This isn’t a fussy game with a lot of fine control. This is complex enough to be challenging but easy enough to play on a small mobile phone. I can complete a full game in under 5 minutes - enough time for a distraction from whatever line I’m waiting on.

I had an issue where I bought the game on my phone but didn’t have the paid option on my tablet. The game is so good and the price so fair that I ultimately attempted to purchase it again on my tablet when it reminded me that the game was already paid for and let me have the full game for “free”.

This game is addictively fun, and has a couple different modes to choose from. Yes, there are ads, but there is also an ad-free version you can buy. The developer has to make money somehow after all. But the most frustrating part of the game for me is the performance. Even on an iPhone 12 Pro with no background processes there can be random slow downs in the middle of the game, which can impact lining up shots and shooting power. Another slightly annoying issue is that the action for shooting is a swipe up, and if you aren’t careful with where you start swiping you can accidentally trigger a Home Screen swipe on the newer phones.

The gameplay is very intuitive and quite addictive. I find it to be a refreshing take on the 8 ball game format. The design is one that is simple, and it is easy to follow. It does not cram unpredictable advertisements on the screen. Nothing feels forced, so it all feels, oddly enough, smooth. In addition, the music makes you feel like you are really in a lounge. This game is very thought out-and, surprisingly, has a relatively active community. It has broken the mold of what other games have continuously worn out. I give major praise to the talented game developers. I hope this was a helpful review.

David

At this point I want a refund. Terrible.

Not fun and the mechanics are terrible. Can never know what the cue will actually do...slowly move it to tap the ball and it takes off like a rocket ship, stroke it and really let if fly for an awesome break and the rack barely moves getting log jammed on one side of the table. There is no draw so the cue will always follow the object ball, but you will have to guess where because it doesn't react to angled shots or the bumper according to the laws of physics. Combo and bank shots are a hope and a prayer...primary and secondary object balls will actually react backwards to the direction of impact and movement. The best way to break the rack 98% of the time is with a bank shot, 99% shot off the left hand bumper. I like to support indie developers over the big micro transaction games but regret paying for this game. Would be uninstalled if I hadn't.

This started as a well designed...commercial...game with neat...commercial...graphics and...commercial...game action. The cue action can be a little...commercial...wonky in that when you...commercial...use a particular...commercial...stroke you do not get the same resulting...commercial...english on the...commercial...ball. Is it me or does the...commercial...8 ball spin always put the... commercial...high numbers on the opposite....commercial...end of the table?

The game is worth a...commercial...4 star rating. That drops to...commercial..2 stars because of the incredible...commercial... number of...commercial...ads that also...commercial... obnoxiously over-ride ...commercial...muted volume settings.

I get that...commercial...ads pay for the...commercial... development and is...commercial...deserved. But...commercial...Zach, lets get real here. I won’t pay the upgrade because I...commercial...believe you will just keep... commercial...finding ways to...commercial...insert ads. (Watch this...commercial...ad to unlock this skin, level,...commercial...etc).

Your next...commercial...review will happen...commercial...in 2 downloads.

Not as thoughtful or deep as his previous efforts (Spelltower, Sage Solitaire, Really Bad Chess, and to an extent, Flip Flop Solitaire, although it was easy to see the holes in that one after a fair amount of game time).

This is fun for a very short while. I downloaded it, bought the IAP for support, and played it for 45 minutes straight. Don’t mind supporting a generally great developer, but I will never play this again.

Hope it isn’t a trend with the developer, because these last two have been weak and even-weaker efforts. I don’t expect everything he does to be Spelltower-level, but I will be hesitant to immediately buy the ad removal in the future. It may be just $4, but 4 bucks is 4 bucks.

I really enjoy this game. I bought the in-app purchase so that I could customize how my game works, but for the life of me I cannot figure out where I change the backgrounds or anything. It’s not in options, and I can’t see it anywhere else. I don’t know if I’m blind or what’s going on but it’s driving me a little crazy each time I play this game. It’s a small thing, but I did pay for it, so I’m a little upset.
Nonetheless, it’s a fun game to play when it’s quiet and you just want to play something to pass the time. Simple and easy to understand in terms of game play.

A good idea, but the arbitrary rules for the wager rounds - while interesting - become very frustrating given their randomness and other clunky aspects (e.g. the timer keeps going while you wait for all the balls to finish rolling/reset after a scratch, etc) and the physics of the rolling, aiming, and shooting are all very poor. Ads are also very long and pop up at the beginning of every game, becoming annoying if you want to play more than two in a row. Would be better if the add-ons like bumpers had different levels of challenge, or were their own mode or something. The aiming is very frustrating when you need precision as well.

Big fan of this game and developer. I’ve been playing this since it was released and it’s perfect for quick games and killing time. However, I’m experiencing several similar issues as others. Balls mysteriously stopping mid-roll, I’ve lost balls/lives even after hitting something in, and the angles no longer seem to line up at times. You get used to how this works after playing over 1500 games. Something currently isn’t right but I have confidence it will be fixed. All of this devs games are solid.