What differs CueClub from other billiard simulators is the dense atmosphere of a club: smoke, dim, chat with virtual clubbers – guys of very different tempers, healthy choice of games, and variety of tournaments. In general, everything to make you a habitue.

You can play UK 8 Ball, EURO 8 Ball, 9 Ball, Snooker, Killer and Speed ball games. A trial version allows UK 8 Balls and Snooker.

CueClub's idea, interface and graphics are realistic and at their best. Details like the illumination of the table, shadows and reflections off balls look very natural. Everything what can be changed and adjusted in a real game can be done here.

You are welcome to choose cues of your length-weight preferences as well as alternative ball patterns and crazy table's baizes. Tune disco lights, table lamps, ball reflections and smoke, add special and music effects and a billiard room will turn into your favorite billiard room. Clinking and soft rumbling of rolling balls sound amusingly natural and pleasant.

You can play alone or with your friend, practice and participate in tournaments. Set of rules for every game can undergo substantial changes. Whims are indulged and encouraged here.

Balls dynamics is also simulated so to produce the most realistic impression. Everything to provide accurate Newtonian physics is taken into account. Cushion speed, table speed, cue control, the way to chalk cue are set in the options section. And we determine power and direction (top, down, etc.) for every single hit. So, side, top, back spin and swerve can all be applied.

In general, quite natural for shareware products restrictions are carried here to extremes: a game lasts 90 seconds (no registration – no pleasure), and unregistered users are not allowed into chat-rooms (what is the main intrigue of the game).

That is why I have nothing to say about the "Unique Virtual Chat Rooms", except that it sounds really attractive from what I read in a Clubbers Guide. The Guide itself is really good and helpful. Along with the program description (Part I), there provided some techniques from bosses, with illustrations, (Part III) how to pot balls accurately and consistently. Even if you never played billiard before, read the rules of the games (Part IV) and it'll be enough to try. Part II covers and laws of the Virtual Chat, its hierarchy, dos and don'ts, etc.

In brief, the situation is like that: without being online, you can talk and play against hundreds of virtual players. There are three grades of membership: Standard, Silver and Gold differing greatly in privileges. There are 8 billiard rooms, hundreds of members of different reputations and 8 Bosses, one for each room. You start as a player with 1-star reputation. Winning games in a chat room, you win stars (up to 5) and in other case, stars are forfeited and your reputation may drop till 0.

Chat Etiquette gives dos and don'ts to avoid a "rara avis" status. For example, chat instead of sitting and waiting, don't ask higher ranked players for a game, or don't expect conversation in depth. I wonder if it's because the AI is not able to generate such, or just because billiard rooms' community is not a dispute clubs' members. Anyway, the tips are quite useful.

What personally I've appreciated most of all, is the illustrated techniques from Bosses. I'll certainly try to reproduce the shots playing billiard in the nearest future.

Though, I doubt deeply if I'll ever be able to repeat something like that.

From what is available to try, I can say that CueClub is a carefully developed, high-quality product, with all possible nuances taken into account. Very realistic, with a gripping idea and advanced graphics, it will not disappoint stagers and is able to catch novices.