Now there’s a free pool game on PS5, and it’s not bad

A surprise release on PS5 today, Pool Blitz is a great eight and nine ball sim – and it’s free-to-play. Of course, the latter is going to be a turn-off for many, as this latest from longtime billiards developer Cherry Pop Games is structured like a mobile game. This means you can expect a heavy emphasis on loot boxes and online play, with unlockable tokens providing stat boosts.

Structurally this smartphone is very close to the favorite Tennis Clash That it practically depends on plagiarism. There’s a soft gacha system, with loot boxes containing cards that contribute to unlockable items, including the aforementioned hints. Collect enough of them, and you can use said items in matches – but they also have a cooldown attached to them, so you may need to rotate through your collection.

You use in-game currency to enter tournaments, and you can win back your stake along with trophies, which then unlock more difficult events. In the early stages, the game looks like you’re playing real-life opponents, but in reality you’ll be up against a fairly easy bot, just to give you the dopamine hit of a few wins.

The gameplay is really good, though: it’s incredibly fast and the ball physics are fantastic. The game lives up to its “blitz” title, as you can get through a match in a matter of minutes, and it obviously becomes much more difficult to go through another one. Loot boxes are tied to timers, but you can spend gems to open them instantly – that’s the type of game!

The signs get really imaginative, some are decorated like assault rifles, while others are flowery. There is a season pass and other live service gubbins, though none of these are accessible on this one. PS Store Still, and honestly the game feels a bit broken – despite the day one patch. We have a feeling it probably shouldn’t have gone live yet, as no microtransaction currency is available yet.

If you can get past the title’s unresponsive interface and heavy implementation of mobile gaming mechanics, though, we reckon this could be an addictive little addition to the PS5’s library. It strikes us as the type of title that you can hope for two or three minutes, and end up losing four or five hours. And yes, if you get used to it, you’re probably going to end up parting with some of your precious pennies too!