Bankshot!Bankshot!

A roguelike built on real pool physics.

Bankshot! is traditional 8 ball pool, played on a table that behaves the way a real one does, wrapped in a run where every decision matters.

Travel through the venue, choose your route, play against unique opponents, and develop your build one rack at a time. Create unexpected builds and discover whether your strategy can survive when the pressure rises.

The physics are the point

The table is built to real dimensions, with physics designed around how pool actually works.

Draw pulls the cue ball back because of the spin you applied. Follow carries forward. Side spin changes the path of the cue ball and throws object balls away from their expected line. 

The table does not change its rules for you.

Everything you collect modifies the simulation itself, changing real values instead of adding simple bonuses on top.

Play pool your way

You can simply play.

Break. Plan your shots. Run the table.

Refine your aim, choose your pocket. Call the rail when you need a bank.

A successful call rewards confidence for every rail, pocket, and ball you call correctly.. A missed call gives your opponent the advantage.

Late in a rack, deciding between the safe option and the risky one becomes the difference between continuing the run and starting over.

Once the 8 ball is in play, every finish has to be earned.

Including a set of options when beginning a new run that alter the ruleset to something you may be more familiar with rather than being expected to play with the 'traditional' ruleset as I know it. Altering these rules does not affect progression. 

The table is part of the opponent

You do not choose the table.

You walk into a room and discover what you have been given.

Some tables run faster. Some rails respond differently. Some surfaces make positioning easier, while others demand precision.

You learn what you are playing on before the break, then adapt your strategy around it.

A difficult table is not unfair.

It is simply a different problem to solve.

Every shot matters

Each rack gives you a limited number of shots.

Legal pockets keep you moving.

Run out of shots before clearing the table and the run ends.

That turns every decision into a tradeoff. A difficult shot might save your run. A safe shot might leave you without enough opportunities later.

Managing your shots becomes just as important as making them.

Play aggressively. Play defensively. Find your own way through the rack.

Build it up. Then break it.

Every run is shaped by the choices you make along the way.

A new cue stick can change the fundamentals of how you play. An item can redefine your strategy. A charm can turn around a critical moment. Hazards will force you to adapt instead of relying on the same plan every run.

Your first successful run unlocks The Hustle. From then on, you may continue forward after completing 'Standard' mode with everything you have earned.

The Hustle is where the rules start asking different questions. You are no longer only rewarded simply for surviving. You are rewarded for the risks you choose to take. Increasing rewards and increasing difficulty, how many Marks can you make?

The physics are the same.

The way you and your opponents play is not.

Never played pool before?

The game is designed to welcome new comers to the pool world while remaining truthful to the real thing and offering challenging mechanics to even seasoned veterans.

Your first rack teaches the fundamentals. The Rule Book explains every rule the game uses. Fourteen Technique lessons break down real shots, showing where to hit the cue ball, how much power to use, and how the shot works.

Practice gives you a table based on the different sizes you may have unlocked, a cue, and the freedom to learn without pressure including a full system for setting up custom shots.

Casual mode offers a more forgiving way to experience runs while learning the systems, with reduced rewards and a smaller item pool.

If you already know pool, Standard is how the game was designed and lets you approach runs however you want. Build around over 200 items, charms and more, or complete runs without them. Both are possible.

Old School removes the roguelike elements and focuses purely on traditional pool.

Hardcore gives you one life and one chance.

What is in the game

• More than forty opponents with unique personalities, habits and playstyles

• Multiple progression systems including cue sticks, items and charms. Each changing how you approach the table

• The Shift takes the classic curse mechanic a step farther that introduces additional changes

• An additional layer of variety that alter how each run plays

• An ever expanding branching map with racks, shops, discoveries and optional stops

• The Tab, a permanent progression system that unlocks new mechanics, events, stops, cue sticks aswell as entire manufacturer groups with their own unique modifier bonuses

• The Hustle, unlocked after completing a run, where risk and reward become the focus

• Entire Run Replays with lightweight-ingame Playback support, aswell as just the previous shot to see how your opponent pulled that off, or for bug reporting, replay tools including a way to save your clips for viewing later in the collection menu

• Standard, Casual, Practice with a growing library of learnable techniques

• Hardcore Save slots for players who prefer to live dangerously.

• Old School mode which cycles seamlessly through all 40+ distinct, custom tuned opponents until either you either win or lose the run, completely stripped of roguelike elements.

• A Variety of Accessibility features including fonts and resizing across every aspect of the game. 

Made in house

This is a solo project, it has taken me over two years of careful attention to details in order to develop this ensuring every new addition does not change the core 'feel' making sure it always feels like the real thing but virtually and is truly "just one more run worthy".

I personally have a ton of Experience with 'Pool' (American Billards) as I have spent a majority of my adult years as a hobbyist around the table learning the intricacies. My partner and a few close friends assisted with testing ideas, challenging decisions, and to point out when something needs more work, I had my close friends who often shoot pool test the systems thoroughly to ensure they feel like the real thing rather than arcadey.

Engineered alongside modding framework since day 1 as such modding framework will release alongside 1.0. The Modding framework allows everything from the text placement, to the ball and table shapes to be modified, it even allows the addition of entire new mechanics to be build from the ground up.

No anticheat. No third party DRM. No account required outside of a steam account and the game!

Play it offline, enjoy it your way!