← The Backroom · playable experiment

Making an entrance

Send the 1 into a cushion and then into a pocket without scratching.

V2 · Preview before committing
Player 100 consecutive fouls
Nine-ball practiceRack 1 · Race to 3Lowest ball: 1
Player 200 consecutive fouls
HIT 1 FIRST
Your table is waiting

Aim. Breathe. Send it.

Mouse, touch, keyboard or controller.
Your first break is on the house.

Audio stays off until you enable it.
Place behind the head string
Loading the table…

Choose your trouble

The game

Choose the first breaker after your lag or agreement. Two-player breaks alternate. Practice keeps you at the table after a miss.

Set the room

A little atmosphere.

Original synthesized effects and instrumentals. Personal audio stays on your device. No uploads; no saved browser settings. Audio pauses when this tab is hidden.

Across the room. Across town.

Bring someone in.

Create a fresh online match, or pair a phone with this screen. Rooms expire after 24 hours. Keep the invitation private; each link joins one game role.

Online features require the hosted Backroom.

Think one ball ahead.

Inspecting legal routes…

Dashed white: recommended cue approach. Gold: intended object-ball route. Green: landing area around a leave with a simulated next pot. Your current aim is the solid cue line. Showing a plan keeps your shot controls unchanged. Rehearse your own stroke to compare. Amber rings flag clusters; coral rings flag blocking balls.

Record matches and see your history in Friends League →

Controls, rules & the edges of this experiment

Your hands on the table

Tap or drag the cloth to aim. Right-drag to orbit; wheel to zoom. On touch screens, use one finger to aim and two fingers to orbit and pinch. During ball in hand, tap a clear position or confirm the current cue position. The playground lets you choose any remaining ball to arrange.

Preview the shot, then Rethink or Commit. Preview leaves scores, turns and attempts unchanged. Rethink keeps your stroke settings; changing those settings discards the old preview. The hold button sets a new strike force and previews it when released.

Keyboard: arrows adjust direction and speed; Shift + arrows makes a finer adjustment. WASD adjusts tip contact; Page Up / Down changes cue elevation. With ball in hand, arrows move the placement ring, Shift moves it finely, and Space or Enter places the cue ball. R reopens placement before a shot is committed. Space previews the selected stroke, Enter commits a completed preview, and Escape rethinks it. Gamepad (standard mapping): left stick aims, right stick orbits; D-pad sets tip contact; triggers change elevation, A previews, Y commits, B rethinks, and X changes camera. With ball in hand, left stick moves the ring, A places, and B resets the ring. LB reopens placement before commitment. Click or tap the table to focus it before using keyboard or gamepad controls. Shot controls work only on your turn.

Nine-ball, with a referee

Lowest first. A legal pot continues your turn; a legal dry shot passes it. A foul gives ball in hand. A legal nine wins the rack; a nine on a foul or push-out is spotted. Three consecutive fouls lose the rack; the board warns at two. Breaks alternate. The three-ball break procedure and push-out accept/return choices are included.

Rerack an unfinished rack only by agreement; use Next rack after a rack is complete. This V2 model includes airborne jump and massé motion and approximates throw, cushions and pockets; real equipment varies. It does not model clothing contact or a physical referee. Solo practice adapts turn passing so you can keep working. Shots wait for the balls to settle.

Our nine-ball rules → · How the physics works →

A private game, not a notebook

Local games live only in memory. Remote rooms store game state on the preview server for up to 24 hours, with separate access for each player and phone controller. No account notes are involved. If a connection drops, shooting pauses until the table resynchronizes. Linked Friends League results remain in account history after a room expires. Physical controller and cross-device behavior still need testing on your own hardware.

Find your line.

Search both the title and the useful bit underneath.

Make yourself comfortable

Choose your room.

The same lessons, with wording that suits you.

Content tone

Guests: remembered in a preference cookie for 180 days. Signed in: saved to your personal account.

Family accounts and parent settings →