Pool Panic prides itself on being “The World’s Least Realistic Pool Simulator” and it’s not hard to see why. With almost nothing in common with the traditional game, Pool Panic has officially turned the classic simulation game on its head. You’ll find yourself robbing a bank, surviving a zombie apocalypse, and kidnapping kings, all while adventuring as a crazy cue ball who seems to revel in ruining everyone else’s fun.

Developer: Rekim

Publisher: Adult Swim

15 Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $14.99

A zany, colourful world comes to life

Rejecting green felted tables and inanimate balls in favour of novel locations and wacky characters, Pool Panic’s graphics are rather amusing. The game takes us to a pirate ship, chicken coop, graveyard, and beyond. A lot of personality is packed into the game’s cartoon style and each area of the map has its own character. The way the map reflects the content of the levels is also a lovely touch. In truth, the attention to detail in the game breathes fresh life into this genre.

Matching Pool Panic’s fun visuals is an equally quirky soundtrack. There is an impressive number of unique tracks, each adding atmosphere to the game. The musical variety helps keep the gameplay from feeling excessively repetitive and the little details are a lot of fun. For example, setting Greensleeves to a level in which you demonstrate your green thumb is a humorous audio pun. Likewise, remixed classical favourites are the perfect addition to your cue ball’s debut on stage. The same cannot be said for the sound effects, however: the characters’ voices are rather annoying. With no option to mute them, I occasionally played in silence instead of listening to their warbling.

Quirky NPCs in unexpected settings

Unlike many simulation games, almost every level in Pool Panic has a new mechanism to keep gameplay interesting, not least of which is the billiard balls themselves. These are NPCs in every sense: each with a different nature, they too contribute to the game’s quirky personality. Whether they are flipping burgers, rollerskating, or protesting deforestation, the billiard ball NPCs truly are characters in their own right. Likewise, each section of the map has its own atmosphere and new areas always promise something unexpected.

When it comes to gameplay, it’s not all fun and games

For the most part, Pool Panic runs fairly well, although it is not without its flaws. For example, despite the developers’ clear efforts to avoid this, the gameplay eventually feels repetitive. It is, after all, a pool simulator: the goal is always to put balls in holes. The game also has numerous technical issues. Many levels have glitches which can make their completion impossible. For example, I found a glitch where my cue ball simply would not hit the NPC ball but passed straight through it instead. On multiple occasions, NPC balls would bounce up and out of reach of my cue ball, making it impossible to finish the level. At one point, the game also got stuck in an animation loop with no in-game way to break it. Although restarting the level or the game is the simple fix to these problems, it happened often enough in my playthrough to be a noticeable source of frustration.

The controls are decent and quite responsive. However, as someone who always inverts my aim controls, it was frustrating to discover that exiting the game resets your preferences. It’s easy enough to fix by changing the settings each time you play, but it is an oversight nonetheless. It is also worth noting that there are almost no instructions in the game, which leads to a lot of trial-and-error. When your game involves 100+ levels and nearly as many unique mechanics, this is far from an ideal solution.

Content as far as the eye can see

There is a huge amount of content in Pool Panic. Not only are there four trophies to collect per level, you can also unlock an awards room to track additional achievements. Once you’re done with that, you can literally head over to the dark side. An inverted, shady version of the game awaits, offering a one-strike death mode. For a game that requires precision, this increases the difficulty significantly. You can also unlock a survival mode once you have completed enough levels in story mode.

But, if all that wasn’t enough, Pool Panic also supports multiplayer for up to four people. I wasn’t, however, able to test this out with others. The Party Mode involves a variety of mini-games set in locations you’ll recognise from the single-player campaign. The matches are short and the game keeps track of your team’s wins. Table Mode, on the other hand, returns to the green felted table of the traditional pool, but with our now-familiar cast of NPC billiard balls.

Despite the huge amount of content in the game, however, there are only so many ways that you can spice up pool. At the end of the day, you’re still just hitting balls into holes. For veterans of simulation games, this might seem obvious. However, as the game sells itself on breaking out of the mould, it’s definitely something to keep in mind.

Perfectly charming, but far from perfect

I was surprised by Pool Panic; it is bursting with personality. Many of its moments made me laugh out loud and I loved its all-around quirkiness. The hours of content promised by the hunt for trophies is an attractive feature for die-hard completionists and the attention to detail enriches the playing experience. However, Pool Panic is not for everyone; it does get repetitive, and the glitches are very annoying. Nevertheless, it’s a game that you can just pick up and play if you’ve got some spare time on your hands.

If you enjoyed this review and would like to help us stay ad-free, please consider supporting us on Patreon or maybe buy us a coffee! In the meantime, if you’re looking for another zany simulator, check out Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?!, or if that’s not your cup of tea perhaps Oxenfree for a real change of pace. And remember to follow us on Twitter for more of that Nintendo Magic – you can find me here.