I've never really been good at pool. I can see the angles where I need to hit the ball but can never seem to execute properly. This can be frustrating for me since I can be fairly competitive. 8 Ball Pool has come to my aid and has made my feel a little better about my lack of real billiard skills and allows me to take my ability to see angles to a virtual pool table.

8 Ball Pool is an all-online game and there are no computer-generated characters to play against. All players are pitted against other live players within the online network. Naturally, a good Internet connection is required to be able to play. My Internet connection hasn't been behaving very well as of late so my games of pool have struggled a bit. I'd warn players that they will most likely have a poor game experience if they have low WiFi speeds.

As the name of the game denotes, 8 Ball Pool is all about playing rounds of simple 8 ball. The rules are simple and easy to follow for those who aren't very familiar with this classic billiards game. After a quick tutorial the game sets players free to play online with random players or with their friends on Facebook or those with Miniclip accounts. Since I don't have Facebook or a Miniclip account, I've been playing online with people I don't know which has actually been really fun. I like playing against real people who can think, reason and make mistakes. Poker chips are the currency of the game and players must sacrifice some of their chips in order to play a round. Winners of each match take the pot and increase their winnings to be able to play in higher-stakes competitions.

The thing I like most about 8 Ball Pool is that it helps me line up my shots using trajectory lines. Simple one-touch controls are used to move the cue stick around to line up each shot. Lines appear to show where the cue ball will go and even how it will ricochet off of the targeted ball. This feature is great for people like me who can see angles but can't seem to execute the shots. This game really makes is fun and easy for players of all ages to enjoy a friendly game of virtual pool.

Overall 8 Ball Pool is a very fun and simple virtual pool game. With the right Internet connection it provides many hours of friendly competition. The game is only $0.99 but also has in-app purchases to buy more chips and other items. The presence of in-app purchases can be off-putting to some but luckily they aren't required to advance. Anyone looking for a worthy iOS billiards game will definitely want to check this one out.