Rock It Or Pocket by Ellis Spice

[raw]
made by Ellis Spice for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

How many pockets will you need to clear the pool table?

Starting with zero pockets on the table, the aim of the game is to clear the table of all balls (9 or 15, depending on what you select) with as few pockets as possible. One pocket is added for every shot taken where no ball is potted. If at least one ball (besides the cue ball) is potted in a shot, then the number of pockets remains the same and a new random set of pockets is selected.

If the cue ball is potted during a shot, one additional pocket is added to the table. If the cue ball touches no other ball during a shot, one additional pocket is added to the table. If the cue ball and any other ball is potted in the same shot, then one additional pocket is added for every other ball potted.

Aim your shot by left clicking and dragging anywhere on the screen. Take the shot by letting go of the left mouse button. The power is determined by the length of the drag, whilst the shot angle is determined by the angle of the drag. Aiming can be inverted in the settings menu or from the pause screen.

The line coming from the ball shows the angle of the shot and the first object it will hit or where it will stop. Shot power is shown as a percentage in the bottom left. A line will also be drawn from the first ball you will hit, showing where it will go after being hit.

Shots can be cancelled by dragging back to where the shot was started or by right clicking.

Ratings

Overall 632th 3.386⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 379th 3.5⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 385th 3.429⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 709th 3.136⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 876th 2.909⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Humor 835th 2.028⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1024th 2.417⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 28🗳️ 0🗨️

Feedback

JosephGaiser
08. Oct 2019 · 00:31 UTC
Pretty cool! Only thing that bothered me was waiting for all the balls to stop moving. The music made the game feel super scary haha
Alex Markoe
08. Oct 2019 · 00:35 UTC
Cool stuff. I kinda wish the queue ball direction would show without having to hold left click
Jason Porritt
08. Oct 2019 · 00:43 UTC
That was fun. The controls worked well for me and gave enough direction to give me a chance at making it in a pocket. Nice interpretation of the theme!
Shaolin Dave
08. Oct 2019 · 00:43 UTC
Played about a dozen or so games, this might be my favorite so far.
The sound seems out of place, almost unnerving, but it's not too bad.
Physics on the balls are really good. Sometimes it seems that they skip over the holes too easily but it's pretty rare.
--0
08. Oct 2019 · 00:43 UTC
A super cool concept! I found the shot control a little clunky and the randomness was sometimes frustrating since there is no coming back if you get screwed by pocket placement but overall a good creation.
philomory
08. Oct 2019 · 00:50 UTC
Pretty sweet! I like how as you get more pockets, the game gets both easier (because it's easier to get a shot lined up for the ball you want to sink) but also harder (because you're more likely to accidentally sink the cue ball). I did feel like it could be a little awkward trying to control the power of the shot, but I got the hang of it eventually.
Jupiter_Hadley
08. Oct 2019 · 10:57 UTC
Interesting idea! I included it in my Ludum Dare 45 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/aEgrmplySyU
Jake Marks
09. Oct 2019 · 08:31 UTC
Hey, here's another video of someone playing it for ya, haha. Cool little game.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/492115900
velvetlobster
09. Oct 2019 · 23:52 UTC
I love pool games ... it is nice to see people doing different things in this genre, it feels new and classic at the same time ... i had the impression that the balls where a bit too bouncy ... not sure if that is accurate or just my impression of it ... really enjoyed it and hope to see more new game ideas of classic pool games
Ausstein
11. Oct 2019 · 17:11 UTC
Very Cool and creative interpretation of the Theme. Good Job. I did not like the rng when the corners where reshuffled every shot. I would have had a highscore of 3 but the last shot was impossible because the corner got removed. so I got a 4 instead... Better make them fixed once they appear.
aevek
11. Oct 2019 · 17:20 UTC
Really cool twist on a classic game. Some kind of transition effect to draw my attention to a new pocket when it appears. My best score was no better than a traditional table, I'm pretty bad at pool lol. I think this could work really well on phones, I enjoyed playing on my touch screen laptop.
DoDELoV
11. Oct 2019 · 17:29 UTC
Very good physics. Cool concept! Good job!