Sword and Spirit Software

Miniature Pool!

Rules of the Game

So what is Miniature Pool anyway? Well, combine the elements of miniature golf and pool and we get Miniature Pool. The object of the game is to complete the board with as few shots possible. But rather than just trying to sink one ball, you've got four (or less) pool balls to sink. In addition, you'll have movers, water traps, ramps and other things to help or hinder your progress.

Each course has nine boards. After you complete all boards, you will receive a final rank and score. Happy pooling!

How to Control the Ball

Three controls determine how the ball moves. First and foremost, click anywhere on the board to set an initial direction and power of your shot. Most of the time this is all what you'll need to do. You'll notice three lines appear as well as a 'shoot' button. The center white line shows the direction and magnitude of the cue ball. The longer this line, the harder the shot. There are two green lines as well. These show you the path of the edges of the cue ball. If these annoy you, you can turn them off in the options screen.

Sometime you want to fine-tune the angle or the power. The controls at the top right will slightly change the angle of the shot. Or you can use the right and left keypad buttons. The controls at the top left change the shot power. You can also use the top and bottom keypad buttons. When breaking, it is recommended to turn the power up rather high.

Scratching

Sometimes you'll sink the cue ball into a hole or water trap. Fear not. Any pool balls sunk after the cue goes in still count. We're nice that way. However, you may want to keep shooting. You'll notice that every board has a place mat, and some have more than one. You can reposition the cue ball on any number of placemats. This costs you a shot, though, so don't scratch yourself too often.

Sometimes you may find your cue ball in a very lonely place and the pool balls far away. If you think it would take a lot of shots to even get there, you can click on the "Ball In Hand" button. It's the button with a cue ball next to a hand. This allows you to replace the cue ball on any mat, at a one shot penalty of course.

English

There is a button showing the cue ball with a red cross on it. No, it doesn't let you shoot the ball in frustration, it allows you to give the ball a little "English." This is a fancy word for "make the ball spin a little by hitting it off center." Clicking on this lovely button pulls up a display showing a cross hair on the cue ball. Click to the left or right of the center to show how much "English" to give the ball. This shows the actual contact point of the cue stick, so hitting it to the left makes it spin right, and vise-versa. Once you're happy with the spin, click anywhere off the image to return to shooting. Spin only applies to the current shot.

Scoring

The goal is to complete each board with as few shots as possible. On some boards, you'll notice there are holes with stars in them. If you sink a pool ball into one of these holes, you get a shot deducted from your score. That's a good thing. These holes tend to be harder to reach.

Loading and Saving

Click on the little disk icon. A menu will appear with available slots. Click on one of these slots. Click on save to save over the slot. Click on load to load the selected slots. Simple, right? I thought so.

Normal Pool Rules

We threw in a more normal version of pool just in case you were into that sort of thing. Only trick is that there's an extra hole, and we're a little nicer with the rules.

You can play the computer or find another friend to play with. We're sorry, we do not have network support, but we do agree it would be a really cool thing to have.

The game rules are similar to normal eight ball. The balls are blue and red as opposed to stripes and solid (these game are rather small, we didn't want you hurting your eyes trying to see a tiny little number on a ball.) Anyway, you must sink all balls of your color, then finish with the eight ball. The first person to sink a ball has to sink every ball of that color, and his opponent must sink the opposite color. If you sink one of your balls, you get to go again, provided you didn't sink the cue ball, or sink an opponent's ball. If you sink the eight ball before sinking all of your balls, you lose. If you scratch when sinking the eight ball, you lose. If you scratch while breaking, you lose. If you scratch yourself too much, you're a loser. Don't scratch mosquito bites, it only makes things worse.

Hints and Tips

In general:

Get to know the controls. Use the fine tune to get a good shot.

Don't use more power than you need to, or else you may make your next shot worse.

Get in the habit of using spin, it can get you out of tight corners.

If you don't have a shot, try to set one up rather than making an almost impossible one.

Don't be afraid to use the ball in hand, the one-shot penalty may save you a bundle.

Comments on the game, tech support, web page, and hygiene can be sent to our feedback address .