An original Star Soft game inspired by Jimmy White’s Whirlwind Snooker
A snooker game seen through the player's eyes: a full-size table in smooth 3D, all 22 balls, the full rules and realistic ball physics with spin, against the computer at three levels, in a 16-player championship, against a friend, on your own in practice, or setting up trick shots.
- Genre
- Snooker
- Plays on
- Computer (keyboard or gamepad), phone and tablet (touch screen)
- Players
- 1, or 2 taking turns on one computer or phone
- Inspired by
- Jimmy White’s Whirlwind Snooker (an original game, not a copy)
- Price
- Free. Plays in your web browser, nothing to install
About the game
Star Snooker is an original snooker game that runs in your web browser, on a computer or a phone. It is inspired by Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker, the Amiga game that put you at the table in 3D: you see the table through the player's eyes, from behind the cue ball, and walk round it to line up each shot.
The table is full size, with all 15 reds and the six colours, and the balls roll, spin, click off each other, bounce off the cushions and rattle in the rounded jaws of the pockets the way real snooker balls do (the cushion's nose meets the ball above its middle, so a rolling ball comes off at a narrower angle and side spin changes the bounce). Hit the cue ball above the middle for top spin and it follows through; below the middle for back spin and it screws back; to one side and it bends off the cushions.
The game follows the rules of snooker: reds and colours in turn, colours back on their spots, the colours in order at the end, fouls and penalty points (the game says exactly what the foul was), the choice to make your opponent play again after a foul, the miss rule (have the balls put back when your opponent misses the ball on), free balls and a re-spotted black for a tie. A crowd watches every frame: it murmurs between shots, hushes while you play, gasps at near misses in the jaws and applauds long pots, big breaks and snookers.
You can play the computer at three levels (ROOKIE, CLUB and PRO) in matches of one, three, five or seven frames, enter the championship (a knockout against 15 computer players of our own invention, each stronger than the last, saved after every frame), play a friend on the same computer or phone, practise on your own to build breaks, or set up your own trick shots: put any ball anywhere and try the shot again and again until it comes off. Any shot can be watched again in a replay, from any angle. The game keeps a table of the best breaks. It has a smooth, detailed 16-bit look drawn in code, an upbeat pub-piano title tune and a calm one, and sampled sound effects.
If you loved Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker on the Amiga, Star Snooker puts you back at the table in 3D, walking round it to line up every shot.
How to play
- Pot a red, then any colour, then a red, and so on. While reds are left, potted colours come back to their spots. When the reds have gone, pot the colours in order: yellow (2), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7). A red is worth 1.
- You keep playing while you pot balls; your score for one visit is your break. When you miss, it is your opponent's turn. The player with the most points when the black goes down wins the frame.
- It is a foul if the cue ball misses every ball, hits the wrong ball first, pots the wrong ball or goes into a pocket. Your opponent gets 4 points, or the value of the ball involved if that is more (up to 7), and chooses whether to play on or make you play again. If you miss the ball on when you could have hit it, it is also a miss: your opponent can have every ball put back where it was and make you play the shot again.
- THE CHAMPIONSHIP: sixteen players, four knockout rounds (last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final). Choose SHORT (1, 1, 3 and 3 frames) or FULL (3, 3, 5 and 7). Every computer player has a world ranking and four stats out of 100 (potting, position, safety and consistency), the same for everyone, and plays exactly to them; the best play like world-class professionals. Your first opponent is never one of the top five. Before each match a coin toss decides who breaks off (the winner chooses), and after that the players take turns to break, frame by frame. Win your match to go through; the other matches are played out for you, and the draw shows every result. Your progress is saved after every frame, so you can carry on another day. To give up, press RETIRE on the draw (or choose RETIRE in the pause menu during a match): your opponent goes through and the rest of the championship is played out.
- TRICK SHOTS: drag any ball anywhere on the table (drag it off to take it away) and add balls from the row at the top, then play the shot. AGAIN puts every ball back for another try.
- To watch your last shot again, click or tap REPLAY at the bottom left of the table (or press R); the VIEW button changes the angle while it plays.
- At the start of a frame, and after the cue ball goes in a pocket, put the cue ball anywhere in the D (the half circle at the baulk end).
- Put the crosshair on the ball you want to hit, on the spot where you want the cue ball to strike it, and click or tap (or click any spot on the table to aim there). A crosshair on the ball marks the spot. Or drag across the table to turn and line up the shot. Then pull the power bar on the right down and let go: the further you pull, the harder the shot. The aim line shows exactly where the cue ball will go at the power and spin you have chosen, off the cushions if it hits them, to the ball it hits (with where that ball will go and where the cue ball will go after) or into a pocket. Before you pull the power bar it shows a firm shot; as you pull, it follows your power, and if the white would stop short a small cross shows where, with the rest of the line dotted.
- Use the white ball button to choose spin: touch the top of the ball for top spin, the bottom for back spin, a side for side spin. When the cue ball is close to a cushion, or another ball is just behind it, the cue can only reach part of it (no back spin off the cushion, for example): the part it can't reach is shaded.
- While the balls run, the AUTO camera follows the action: a low shot behind any ball heading for a pocket, then a view that keeps all the moving balls in sight. The VIEW button picks other angles (from above, from the side, from the top end and from a corner) while you line up a shot or watch the balls run. Shots are played from behind the cue ball, or from above if you lined the shot up in the view from above.
Controls
On a phone or tablet, Star Snooker shows its own on-screen controls.
Mouse
| Aim at a spot on a ball or the table | Put the crosshair on it and click |
|---|---|
| Aim (and raise or lower the view) | Drag across the table |
| Very fine aim | Mouse wheel, or the arrow buttons below the table |
| Play the shot | Drag the power bar on the right downwards, then let go |
| Spin, view, aim line, menu | Click the buttons below the table |
| Watch the last shot again | Click REPLAY at the bottom left of the table |
Keyboard
| Aim | Left and right arrows (hold Shift for fine aim) |
|---|---|
| Raise or lower the view | Up and down arrows |
| Play the shot | Hold Space to build up power, let go to play |
| Spin | W, A, S and D |
| Change the view | V |
| Aim line on or off | L |
| Replay the last shot | R |
| Pause | P or Esc |
| Sound on or off | M |
Gamepad
| Aim | Left stick or d-pad (LB and RB for fine aim) |
|---|---|
| Play the shot | Hold A to build up power, let go to play |
| Spin | Hold X and move the stick |
| Change the view | B |
| Aim line on or off | Y |
| Replay the last shot | Back / Select |
| Pause | Start |
Touch screen
| Aim at a spot on a ball or the table | Tap it (a crosshair marks the spot) |
|---|---|
| Aim | Drag across the table (in the other views, touch where to aim) |
| Play the shot | Pull the power bar on the right down, then let go |
| Spin, view, fine aim, menu | Tap the buttons below the table |
Tip: press F8 while playing on a computer to change how the picture looks. AMIGA (the default) softens the picture and adds faint scan lines, the way Amiga games looked on a 1980s monitor; SMOOTH keeps the softness without the lines; SHARP shows every pixel crisp and square. The games are drawn to look their best in AMIGA, but choose whichever you prefer: your choice is remembered.
Questions and answers
Is there a free game like Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker I can play in my browser?
Yes: Star Snooker is a free 3D snooker game in the spirit of Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker, and it plays in your web browser. You see the table through the player's eyes, with all 22 balls, the full rules, realistic spin and a computer opponent at three levels.
Is it free? Do I need to download anything or sign up?
Yes, it's completely free. There's nothing to download or install and no account or sign-up: open the page and press PLAY. Your best breaks and settings are saved in your own web browser, on your device.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. On a phone or tablet you tap a ball or the table to aim, pull the power bar on the right down and let go to play the shot, and use the buttons below the table for spin and views. Turn the phone sideways for the biggest view of the table.
Is it suitable for children?
Yes. There are no adverts, no cookies, no chat and no sign-up, and the game never asks for anything about you. Best breaks and settings stay in your own web browser, on your device, and never leave it. It's a calm game of snooker, with a friendly crowd and no violence.
Is it a copy of Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker?
No. Star Snooker is an original game inspired by Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker. Its name, look, music and the way it plays are all its own: it aims for the feel of the Amiga snooker game without copying any of it, and it has no real players in it.
Can I play with a friend?
Yes. Choose to play a friend and you take turns at the table on the same computer, phone or tablet, passing it between shots as the rules say.
Download the code
Star Snooker is made of plain HTML and JavaScript files: download them to see how it was made, or to play it on your own computer (how to play the code on your computer).
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DOWNLOAD .ZIP (670 KB)
Star Snooker: the code
The game and the Star Soft engine it runs on · HTML and JavaScript · zip
The code is shared under the Star Soft Non-Commercial Licence: you may play, study, change and share it for free, as long as nobody makes money from it and you give clear credit: Based on Star Snooker by Star Soft. The zip includes a copy of the licence. Its music is on the MUSIC page.
Credits
- Code, art, sound and music: written by Claude (Anthropic) for Star Soft. Everything in Star Snooker is original and made in code, unless listed here.
- Intro music: Mars, the Bringer of War by Gustav Holst (public domain), played with samples from the VSCO 2 Community Edition by Versilian Studios (CC0).