A free pool game: nine-ball practice and eight-ball

For a free pool game on Windows, Games by Zaweba has Pocket Pool. It puts a proper pool table on your screen and gives you two ways to play: practise nine-ball on your own, or play eight-ball against the computer. It is one of 82 original games in the app, all free, offline and without adverts.

It is a pool game rather than snooker, but if what you want is a green table, a cue and the pleasure of a clean pot, it covers that well.

Aiming, power and the guide

Point the mouse where you want the cue ball to go. A guide line shows the first ball the cue ball will hit and the direction that ball should travel afterwards, which takes a lot of the guesswork out of cutting a ball into a pocket. Press and drag back to set the power, then let go to strike.

The guide is a help, not a promise. It shows the first contact and where the object ball should head, so you still have to judge the weight. Too hard and balls fly round the table; too soft and the pot rattles in the jaws. Most missed pots in Pocket Pool are about power, not line.

Nine-ball practice on your own

In nine-ball practice you must always hit the lowest numbered ball on the table first, and the goal is to pot the 9 in as few shots as you can. That makes it a game about position. Potting a ball is half of each shot; the other half is where the cue ball stops, because it has to have a line to the next lowest ball.

A good way to practise is to slow down. Before each shot, look at the next ball in order as well as the one you are playing, and choose the power that leaves the cue ball somewhere sensible. Gentle shots often leave better position than firm ones.

Eight-ball against the computer

Eight-ball is the game most people know from the pub. You and the computer each take a group, spots or stripes, pot all of yours, then pot the 8 to win. Fouls give the other player the cue ball in hand: potting the cue ball, missing everything, or hitting the wrong ball first all count. Against the computer that is a real cost, so it is often worth playing a safe shot rather than a risky pot that might leave you snookered behind the wrong colour.

Watch where your own balls sit near the pockets. A ball hanging over a pocket is a free pot later, so there is no hurry to take it; clear the awkward ones while the table is open.

Getting to the table

Pocket Pool is on the Skill & sport shelf of Games by Zaweba. The title card sets out the rules, the modes and the controls, F1 explains them again during play, and Esc pauses. F11 is full screen, which gives the table and the guide more room. Each mode keeps its own best score and the tile shows how often you have played and won, all stored in a file on your own PC.

Everything is drawn and every click of the balls is synthesised in code, so there are no downloads and nothing goes online. If you like the feel of it, Curling Stones and Shove Ha'penny on the same shelf are the same blend of line and weight.