Zoopaloola

So many game developers spend time looking at ways to reinvent other video games; from a complete re-engineering to a simple set of new graphics, tweaking an established title is the staple diet of a great many game creators. But Redboss Games has taken a step backwards and looked for a way to restructure a much older type of game; pool.

Zoopaloola might be difficult to pronounce and spell, but it's remarkably simple to play, and a brilliant take on the age old cue-and-balls-type game. The premise is rather odd, and not entirely necessary, but that doesn't detract from the inspired game mechanics at all, so it's really not a big deal.

Zoopaloola begins with you choosing a character, or, more accurately, a species of animal. Monkeys, zebras, rhinos and so forth have all been given a caricatured, anthropomorphised update, but your choice is purely aesthetic. Each animal wants to own the mountain, and the game focuses on expelling the other species.

The 'mountain' is actually a recognisable rendition a pool table – a little chunkier and smaller, but essentially the same – while six of your chosen animals are represented as balls (facing off against six rival animals, also spherical in shape). So mountain or not, animals or not, the whole thing looks like a pool table with 12 balls on it (six for each player).

Removing the competition from the mountain is simple. Aim the cursor, set the power level and hit them into one of the table's pockets (which are represented as holes disappearing into mountainless oblivion). The clever diversion from standard pool is the lack of a cue ball, and the subtle genius behind Zoopaloola.

You can use any one of your six animals as a cue ball; aiming at the best shot to remove an opponent's ball from the table. Pressing the '*' and '#' keys cycles through the remaining balls on the table until you've chosen the one you want to hit, while Left and Right rotate a cue around it to line up your shot. Up and Down adjust the power with which you'll hit the ball, which is a relatively important aspect so as not to cast your own creatures from the mountaintop.

Regardless of whether you pot a ball, miss or pot one of your own, the player's turns alternate one after the other, so a winning game can turn around very quickly if you've not got any good shots lined up. The removal of the cue ball and the multitude of different ways the balls are set up at the beginning of the game (sometimes in a circle, facing each other in two rows, alternating in one long line, and so forth) make for a surprisingly entertaining new version of pool.

Indeed, this is a game that's so well thought out it'd translate to a real pool table incredibly well, and work just as entertainingly. The next time we rack up a table down the pub, you can bet we're going to give Zoopaloola a go with real cues and balls. In the meantime, however, the mobile game is a superb alternative.