Play Fallowmere Pool

How to play Fallowmere Pool

Eight-ball on a full-size table in the back snug of an old inn on the mere. Aim with the ghost ball, put follow, draw or side on the cue ball, and play Hester the lynx, a friend or the rack alone.

1. Press Play. You break first against Hester, and after that the break alternates. The cue ball starts behind the head string, the faint line across your end of the table, and while it is in hand you can drag it anywhere behind that line.
2. Aim by dragging on the table: the cue turns to follow your finger or pointer. The ghost ball shows where the cue ball will touch the first ball, and the short line from that ball shows where it will go. Drag the brass wheel for fine aim.
3. Draw the cue back on the strength slider beside the table and let go to shoot: the further you pull, the harder the shot. With a mouse you can also press on the cue ball and drag back away from the aim.
4. Tap the cue ball picture to choose where the tip strikes: above the middle for follow (the cue ball rolls on after contact), below for draw (it comes back), to one side for side spin. The middle is a plain shot.
5. The break must pot a ball or send at least four balls to a cushion, or the balls are racked again and the other player breaks. After the break the table is open: hit any ball but the 8 first. Your first pot gives you that group, solids (1 to 7) or stripes (9 to 15).
6. On every shot, hit one of your own balls first, then pot a ball or send any ball to a cushion. Pot one of yours and you shoot again. A foul (potting the cue ball, hitting nothing, hitting the wrong ball first, or no cushion after contact) gives the other player the cue ball in hand anywhere on the table.
7. Clear your group, then pot the 8 in the called pocket to win the frame. Pot the 8 before your group is cleared, in a pocket you did not call, or on a foul, and you lose it. An 8 potted on the break comes back to the foot spot.

Controls

• Touch or mouse: drag on the table to aim. Drag down on the strength slider and let go to shoot; a tap on the slider does nothing, so the cue never goes off by accident. Tap or drag on the cue ball picture to set follow, draw or side, and drag the brass wheel sideways for fine aim. With ball in hand, drag the cue ball where you want it. When you are on the 8, tap a pocket to call it.
• Keyboard: the left and right arrow keys aim (hold Shift for steps of a tenth of a degree), up and down set the strength, and Space or Enter shoots. W and S add follow or draw, A and D side, and X puts the tip back in the middle. C calls the next pocket for the 8. B picks up the cue ball when it is in hand, so the arrow keys move it. H suggests a shot and M or Escape opens the menu.
• Menu starts a new frame and opens Settings (who you play, Hester's level, the length of the aim guide and how fast the balls move on screen), your statistics and the rules. The toolbar has pause, restart, help, optional sound and fullscreen.