Pool Puzzles

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is a part of the Pure Mini Golf and Pool Puzzles Bundle, along with Pure Mini Golf)

Pool Puzzles, released on Nintendo Switch in 2021, is a sliding block-style Puzzle game with a pool table motif, with players trying to use their orange cue ball to knock all the other balls into pockets while only able to hit their ball vertically or horizontally. It should be noted that this game cannot be played in docked mode – only portable play is supported.

This limitation is completely inexplicable – this game doesn’t make use of the touchscreen at all, and players have to use the Joy-Cons connected to the Nintendo Switch to play, but for some reason cannot use those same Joy-Cons when they’re unconnected from the Nintendo Switch, nor can they use a Pro Controller.

It seems like this game was either poorly-made, or released unfinished, because there are other confusing elements here too. The odd-looking simply 3D pool tables in this game exist in colorful voids, which could just be a stylistic choice, but this game doesn’t have any music save for the menu screen. Again, it seems like this game was simply released unfinished.

It’s a pity too, because the core gameplay is decent enough, if a bit simple and completely unoriginal. The puzzle design is okay, but there’s just not very much to this game beyond that. What you see is what you get.

And that’s… pretty much all there is to say about Pool Puzzles. Decent but unoriginal Puzzle gameplay in a package that is either poorly-made or released prematurely. Either way, you have plenty of better options on Nintendo Switch, even if you’rel booking for something budget-priced like this.

tl;dr – Pool Puzzles is a sliding-block Puzzle game with a Pool motif. The Puzzle gameplay is decent enough, albeit completely unoriginal. However, it’s trapped in a package that’s poorly put-together and inexplicably refuses to let players play the game in docked mode, even though the game doesn’t make any use of the touchscreen. If you’re looking for a budget Puzzle game, you have plenty of better options than this.

Grade: D-

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