Last week, we took a look at the hero of Man Or Monster… so it’s time to get up close to the monsters themselves! If you choose to play as a monster, you can take your pick from 11 behemoths and carve a path of destruction through cities in the game world. Man or Monster developer Diederik Groesbeek gave us his insight into the beasts that inhabit the game.

The Monster Mash

“The early build of the game had just one monster – a green Godzilla-like creature that we’d made for testing – although we actually came to realize that he looked quite a lot like Mario’s nemesis, Bowser! As we developed the game further, we decided that he looked a bit too friendly and cartoony so changed up his appearance. We made him purple (yes, purple monsters can still look scary). To reflect his slightly more menacing look, we also took to calling him Bad Browser, because everyone in web game development knows browsers are evil…

Purple can still be mean-looking.

“And then we started to make the rest of them! We took a lot of inspiration from classic monster movies and kept this in mind while we were creating the places that they’d end up destroying – we just couldn’t resist having a big ape wreck New York City, and a giant robot destroy Tokyo.

“We took a lot of inspiration from classic monster movies.”

When you look at most action games, you almost always play the hero. We wanted to give you the choice – you can save the world as the Man, or, if you feel like trashing a city or two, you can enjoy doing that as a Monster.

We’ve tried to make playing as the Monster feel like you really are a hundred feet tall, towering above a city. You can equip your monster with special abilities like fireballs, a high speed dash attack… and even weaponized flatulence. My personal favorite is probably the Minion Attack, in which you spit out black critters that run around the city eating civilians.”

Creature Feature

“We created 3 monster classes that the games’ monsters fit into: Zilla (dinosaur), Kong (ape) and Mutant (humanoid) which help to define how they move. Once you’ve unlocked a new monster, its body parts are made available to use on other monsters of the same class in the Monster Shop menu. So you can customize the colors and special attacks of your monster before you go out to flatten a city.

We wanted to make it possible for the player to create any type of monster they wanted. However, it just wasn’t technically do-able to have dinosaur-like small arms on a big gorilla body – despite how hilariously awesome it sounds.”

Customize your beast in the Monster Shop.

“You can piece together monster body parts to create unique combinations – we’re really excited to see what people come up with when the game launches! The Daily Challenges will have some special monster combinations too so make sure you look out for those.

There are going to be 11 monsters in the game, although we would love to create some new classes and new ways of customization for an update. It would be awesome if you could play as a Kraken or even Ghidorah.”

One of the monsters that didn’t make the cut

“When we designed our monsters we outlined them directly in our 3D modeling package. Then we recreate it in ‘cubes’ inside Qubicle Constructor, and then we export it back to our modeling package for rigging, animation and optimization. We wanted each monster to look distinct from each other, but to also have a link to the city they were attacking, like the wolfman in London and the giant ape in New York. The monsters tower over buildings and the humans below look like ants, empowering the player to cause all sorts of carnage.”

What’s in a name?

“We’re actually still finalizing the names for each monster at the moment - there have been some brilliant suggestions (and some hilarious ones). Hopefully we can share some of them with you when the game gets released! We don’t want to spoil the surprise until you’ve had a chance to play it and discover some of our monsters for yourselves…”

Don’t miss our Man Or Monster launch trailer, and stand by for next week’s developer blog where we’ll be taking a little tour around some of the worlds that you’ll soon be defending or flattening, depending on your mood… 

Man Or Monster: Launch Blog Post

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 1: Building A World

Man or Monster Developer Blog 2: Who’s the Man?

Man Or Monster has tons of cities that you can protect as the Man or destroy as the Monsters. Our developers have recreated famous cities from around the world in voxels, along with their iconic landmarks. Diederik Groesbeek talked to us about the decisions behind the locations in the game.

Minotaurus quietly contemplates destruction

“When you think of monster movies, you almost immediately think of King Kong in New York and Godzilla in Tokyo. Los Angeles too maybe, but since we can only do a limited amount of cities we wanted to have a wide range of locations from different continents and countries. That meant that we had to drop LA: New York is just a much more iconic city for a monster attack! Perhaps if we had an extra-terrestrial alien we could have included it.

“We included Rio de Janeiro because of this year’s World Cup… hopefully they don’t get a Monster visiting for real this summer!””

Myself and my fellow Man Or Monster creators are from the Netherlands, so we thought Amsterdam would be cool for all our friends here. And of course, we’ve been working closely with the Miniclip team in London, so that was a no-brainer as well. Brazil had to be in there because of this year’s World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, so we thought Rio just had to be included. Let’s just hope that they don’t get a Monster visiting for real this summer!”

See the Sights

“We made loads of landmarks for Man Or Monster - and I’m pleased to say that every one we made has been included in the final game. It was very time consuming to build each one so we planned out right from the beginning which ones we wanted to go with. Although, we had to redo some because they were too small for the monster to destroy!”

Some of the many landmarks you can protect… or step on. How many can you name?

“The Statue Of Liberty was one of the first we made and when I first saw it in the game I remember being incredibly excited. When we created buildings like the Coliseum and the Football Stadium in Rio De Janeiro, those were cool as well as you can almost go ‘inside them’. At one point during testing, we placed all landmarks in a single city so we could play around with them. That was pretty awesome!”

City Planning

“We wanted to add some strategy to how the player approaches defending or destroying a city, so we designed the levels to encourage the player to plan their defense against the monster and fully utilize their inventory of units. We usually have the monster approach from the sea – this gives the Man some time to place mines and boats to fight off the Monster before it even reaches the city. We also added some waterways to cities so the Man can make good use of boats there too.”

Place units on buildings, the ground or even on water

“When you’re playing as the Monster, some cities are so well defended by Mammoth and Heavy Tanks (for example Moscow), that you’ll need to make good use of your ranged attacks to destroy them first.

We also wanted to recreate LA (including Hollywood) with more varied landscaped like hills, caves and canyons. But these posed a lot of technical challenges which meant that we couldn’t include it in the game.”

World Building

“People just love to collect stuff, ever since Pac-Man – so we’ve included lots of little things for players to find while they’re playing. Watch out for red parachutes that drop crates with goodies, they sometimes even contain additional units for you to deploy in case you’ve run out!  Every city contains a hidden Man Coin and a Monster Coin to collect. Some of them are located inside buildings and pretty hard to spot. You have to find them all to get all the achievements.”

Miniclip has Monster Attack Insurance

“These little things just bring a city more to life, and they also make it more unique. In each city there are animals, objects, cars or advertisements that are really recognizable for a particular country (for example the blue police box in London). It’s not only more stuff to destroy… although you can blow it up if you want!”

If you’ve missed it, take a look at the awesome launch trailer for Man Or Monster. Next week’s developer blog is focusing on the finishing touches being done on Man Or Monster as we get it ready for launch!

Man Or Monster: Launch Blog Post

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 1: Building A World

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 2: Who’s the Man?

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 3: The Monsters!

It’s nearly time to unleash Man Or Monster onto Miniclip! In the last of our developer blog series, we chatted to Diederik Groesbeek about putting the finishing touches to our epic new game.

Finishing touches

“Man Or Monster is almost ready to go! We’re in the last stages of development now, which is basically fixing some final bugs and glitches, and tweaking and balancing. This is one of the most important stages – when you’ve built the game and pretty much everything in it, but then you have to make sure it’s as fun to play as you hoped.

Getting the Monster camera setup right was tricky – the Monsters are so huge, and we want players to have that sense of size when they’re playing, but not to have them blocking your view as you’re stomping around!

Finding bugs themselves is not that hard – it’s usually the small tweaks that are the trickiest. When you’re so ‘into’ the project as we have been with Man Or Monster, your brain can overlook stuff that’s incredibly obvious for new players. For example: we almost forgot to mention in the tutorial what the actual goal of the game is!

Actually, we did have one bug that we thought made the game better, so it has stayed in! When we first implemented the AI for minions (the black spider-like critters), it surprised us how spooky it was for them to just pop onto buildings and suddenly attack you. So rather than fix this, we made it part of the game.”

You wouldn’t want to find THESE in your bath.

Looking back

“We’re really happy with how Man or Monster has turned out. It has the retro style that we were aiming for, like an old 2D game come to life. At first, we had some doubts with the gameplay for the Monster, but we’ve tweaked quite a bit since then and added a few new features, so we’re glad with how it’s turned out. As for the Man part of the game, we’re proud of getting the right feature set for this mode – we think you’ll have a lot of fun no matter which side you choose!

Probably the biggest challenge was setting up the art pipeline. That, and to keep making the right decisions on which features to implement and which ones we had to pass on. During development, a lot of people got very excited about the gameplay and so between us we had a lot of ideas!”

“Of course, with big projects like this, there’s always a few things we’d have liked to have included but didn’t have chance. We thought about things like being able to control military units yourself when playing as the Man (they have their own AI in the final version), and maybe allowing the Monster to do some taunts and roars at the end of a round for bonus points! This is in addition to the obvious stuff like multiplayer and Oculus Rift support ;-)

But overall, we’re delighted with what we’ve managed to pack into the game. Probably my favorite thing is watching the Monster get destroyed after you’ve deployed loads of units like jetfighters and zeppelins. The pure mayhem and chaos you can create is pretty impressive… and very satisfying.

My favorite monster is still T-Wrecks (formerly known as Bad Browser). He’s purple and looks like a guy in a monster suit, inspired by old B-movies.”

INCOMING!

Man or a Monster - Tips

“Some gameplay tips? Well, if you’re playing as the Man, the main tip is to stay clear of the Monster at all times! If you haven’t upgraded your hearts, he can kill you in a second – so hunt for those parachutes and crates as they may contain additional power-ups.

Don’t stand too close to the more valuable units you’ve placed, as sometimes the Monster throws a fireball at you which in turn will wipe out your precious units before they’ve even had chance to fire. Oh, and finally, place units in open places where they have a good line-of-sight on the Monster.

As the Monster: stock up on stuff like fireballs to destroy buildings from a distance, or give you the edge against Mammoth Tanks and Tesla Coils in the later levels. Equip the shield special attack frequently, and use the bursts to get rid of smaller units around you, like the helicopters.

Also, you might want to try the Red Rage power in combination with other special attacks like the dash, body slam or spin attack – this will do some serious damage to a block of buildings.

Save the world, or destroy it?

“If Man Or Monster was real… I’d save the world, of course! Mainly because I’d love to fly a jetpack one day.”

Man or Monster is in the final stages of development! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out news of its release date. Roar!

Man Or Monster: Launch Blog Post

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 1: Building A World

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 2: Who’s the Man?

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 3: The Monsters!

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 4: See the Sights

It’s time. The wait is over. Man Or Monster has been unleashed – play it now!

We’ve followed the development of Man Or Monster from the humble beginnings of the Man to the rampaging, super-destructive Monsters. There are tons of great cities that you can protect or destroy, with cool items to collect and achievements to get. From London to Tokyo, you can use boats, planes and turrets to protect the world if you’re playing as the Man, or power-up and stomp buildings to bits as the Monster.

Look out for all the homages to iconic monster films and old-school videogames that we’ve included!

Day One Award

Oh, and, if you play Man Or Monster on launch day (May 22nd), there’s a special Day One award for you to win. All you need to do is play the game, beat the first level (Amsterdam) playing as either the Man or the Monster, and then hit submit score.

Remember that you need to submit your score immediately after beating the Amsterdam level in order to get the award – not after beating any other level. Good luck out there!

Man or Monster?

So here we are – the game is live and ready for you to play. Only one question remains to be answered… who will you be, Man or Monster? Choose… and join the action!

Still here?

Wait, you haven’t gone to play Man or Monster yet? Okay then – how about watching our final trailer video, or checking out some of the developer blogs that outline the whole process of making Man or Monster, start to finish?

Or - why not add Man or Monster to your own website? Head to our webmasters page to find out how!

Man Or Monster: Launch Blog Post

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 1: Building A World

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 2: Who’s the Man?

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 3: The Monsters!

Man Or Monster Developer Blog 4: See the Sights

Man or Monster Developer Blog 5: Almost Ready!

We love trickshots, you love trickshots. We love that you send us loads of videos everyday, that’s why we do the Masterclass. What would be better is if we got even more videos from the rest of you!

We’ve got a few tips for how to create a great video and maybe one day you’ll get one of yours in a Trickshot Masterclass.

1. Recording software – you won’t be recording anything without the right software. Use screen-recording software like Bandicam or Camtasia. Just remember to hit the record button before you make your killer shot!

2. A (patient) friend or secondary account – you’ll need them/it to play against so you can position the balls for your trickshot. If you’re using two accounts, you’ll have to use different web browsers (Chrome/Firefox/Safari/Opera) otherwise you’ll only be logging into the same account.

3. Time – You probably won’t nail your trickshot the first, second or third time so you should be prepared to be retry your trickshots again and again until you get it right.

4. Creativity – not all trickshots are created equal. We’re always impressed when we see a 10-rail trickshot on the 8 Ball but if you could do that while not hitting any of the other balls on the table then we’d be picking up our jaws up from the floor.

Don’t just take it from me. Trickshot extraordinaire and all-round good guy Kilkiju has made a tutorial on how he creates the perfect trickshot video. He’s been in a few Masterclass videos (so he must be good).

Submitting your videos

So now you’ve gone through all of the steps to making your video and taken some tips from a Trickshot Grandmaster, how do you submit your video to us?

1. Upload your videos to YouTube and send the links to us on Facebook or in an email at social at miniclip dot com.

2. Email us at social at miniclip dot com or message us on Facebook on the 8 Ball Pool or Miniclip page and attach your video to the message.

 We can’t wait to see the awesome trickshot videos that you’re all going to create!

Get ready for Soccer Stars

It’s the last minute of the game, your opponent has the ball… but he’s lost it! What a chance to score the winner… you take aim, shoot…

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAALLLL!

Get ready to hit the back of the net in our new mobile game, Soccer Stars! With simple gameplay and great football physics, you’ll be able to pick up and play this game in no time. But get ready… because Soccer Stars is all about competitive online multiplayer action!

Challenge opponents from all over the world in 1v1 matches. Compete in tournaments to win fans, level up and earn coins. Or take on your friends! Have you got what it takes to become a Soccer Legend?

As you level up, you’ll unlock more tiers to play in, and be able to customize your game by collecting all the teams that feature in this year’s World Cup. Take your nation all the way to the trophy in Brazil!

Soccer Stars is free to play on your iOS or Android device – and it launches worldwide next week!

Start warming up for the action now with these exclusive screenshots, and don’t forget to follow the official Soccer Stars Facebook page for further news about the game’s release!

Play against your friends, or take on players from around the world!

Enter different tournaments to win big prizes!

Have you got what it takes to get your hands on the trophy?

32 teams to unlock and collect!

This week, we were delighted to launch a new feature on Miniclip - Platinum Mondays!

What are Platinum Mondays? They’re a chance for you to revisit some of the most popular games we’ve seen on Miniclip in the last few years. In case you hadn’t noticed, we have a lot of games on our site – over 900! – so Platinum Mondays will highlight some of those that have proved most popular with you, the players.

Each game will come with an all-new Platinum Award to win – so even if our selected Platinum Monday game is one you’ve played lots before, this will be a great reason to go back to it again. But apart from that, we also hope that our Platinum Mondays games will bring back some happy memories of Miniclip games that you’ve loved in the past! And, if you’ve never played it before, you can be sure that it’s a top game that you can’t miss out on – these are games that have been hand-picked based on how much everyone loved them and played them.

Our first Platinum Monday game is Ice Hockey Heroes - get your skates on and hit the ice! As always, look out for news of the next games in our Platinum Monday series on our Facebook page or on Twitter.

Play the first of our Platinum Mondays games, Ice Hockey Heroes, now!

Ice Hockey Heroes is our first Platinum Mondays game.

Countdown to kick-off!

The World Cup is finally here, so it’s time to pull on our nation’s colors, lace our boots, do a quick warm-up and then lift the lid on the great multiplayer soccer games we’ve got lined up for you over the next few weeks!

Let’s get things started with our new mobile game, Soccer Stars…

Soccer Stars (iOS & Android), out Wednesday 11 June

Get ready to hit the back of the net with Soccer Stars, our new multiplayer title that hits the App Store and Google Play on the eve of the World Cup! Soccer Stars has addictive physics-based gameplay: 5-a-side football with the simple aim of outscoring your opponent.

It sounds easy enough, but the challenge comes in taking on your friends or players from all over the world in real-time multiplayer battles. Compete in tournaments to win fans and level up – have you got the skills to become a Soccer Stars Legend?

You’ll unlock new tiers to play in – with bigger prizes – and collect the 32 teams that are appearing in Brazil. Get your nation’s flag on your team and take them all the way to the trophy in Brazil!

Soccer Stars is free to play and lands this Wednesday. Don’t forget to follow the official Soccer Stars Facebook page for all the latest news and tips to make you a Soccer Star!

Take on players from all over the globe in World Soccer Forever – climb that leaderboard!

World Soccer Forever (Miniclip.com)

World Soccer Forever is a brand new multiplayer game, putting your soccer skills to the test across five different game modes. There’s a free kick contest, plus skill modes to show off your abilities at hitting air targets, playing perfect passes, lofting long balls, and the classic cross bar challenge.

But it’s not the game AI that you’ll be taking on… it’s real players from across the globe. Whenever you enter a match, you’ll be paired-up with another player from around the world… and then it’s you vs them, head-to-head, best score wins!

There’s global leaderboards to climb, plus in-game prizes to earn. You can customize your player, your pitch and even the ball you use – and enter special tournaments to win bigger prizes!

World Soccer Forever is coming real soon to Miniclip.com – get ready to take on the world!

Super Soccer Stars is 10-player fun!

Super Soccer Stars (Miniclip.com)

Super Soccer Stars is fast and frantic five-a-side fun! Yup, that’s right: up to TEN players can be playing a game… simultaneously!

You control one player, and up to nine other players can join the action on the same pitch. Are you a team player or are you going to be trying to score wondergoals on your own? It’s all down to how you want to play!

We’ll have some more news on Super Soccer Stars soon – we’re having crazy amounts of fun playtesting it, by the way – so look out for more news on this blog, and on our official Twitter and Facebook pages.

Get your hands on these all-new awards!

New Awards to win!

Three great new games, and we’re not done yet… we’ve also got a new award series to complete, in some of our classic Miniclip soccer games!

These six awards are all about getting ready to play: each award is a piece of kit. You’ll earn a shirt, shorts, goalie gloves, golden boots and – safety first – shinpads. Once you’ve won all five pieces of kit, you’ll get the golden ball Super Award!

Here’s where to get the awards… good luck!

• Beach Soccer
• European Soccer Champions
• Soccer Stars Classic
• World Soccer Champions
• Free Kick 2012

And finally

We can’t wait for the World Cup at Miniclip… in between foosball championships, FIFA tournaments, and heated debates about whether Messi is better than Ronaldo (Ronaldo, right?), we’ve also decorated our offices. Looking good, huh?

Finally, we’ve put all our soccer games – new and classic – into one handy category page for you. Don’t miss out!

We’ll have tons more soccer stuff lined up for you during the World Cup… keep an eye on our Facebook page and Twitter for more news!

So maybe you’ve just started 8 Ball Pool for the first time or just want to learn a few new tricks to improve your game, well we’ve got you covered. We’ve also included some questions we get asked a lot on our Facebook pages and on Twitter.

We’ve even got tips from the best: M A G I C C U E, Kunal908 and G A R Y have sent us their advice on how to become a top 8 Ball Pool player.

Click the links below to go skip straight to the specific section.

Game Rules
Common Fouls
Game Mechanics
Mini Games
Commonly Asked Questions

PROTIP: G A R Y says “The safety side of things is very important also. It’s very easy to clear 5 or 6 balls after the break but sometimes you may run into trouble. That’s where frames are lost. If you’ve messed up after clearing the table of most of your balls and left your opponent a nice easy table. You can avoid this by identifying the balls in awkward positions early on and try to break them up so you can pot them easily or play a safety game to force your opponent to make an error and take advantage of it.

Game Rules

• Calling pockets
  • To call a pocket all you need to do is click the pocket you want to pot the ball into. Some of the mid-ranked tables require you to call the pocket on the 8 Ball and the higher rank tables require you to call a pocket for every ball.

Common fouls

• Fouls that will result in a ball in hand for the other player
  • Running out of time: you have a short amount of time to take your shot, so don’t take too long or play passes to the other player. Your time gets a little shorter with every ball you pot in a game.
  • Cue ball not hitting your own balls: if the white doesn’t make contact with one of your own balls before hitting your opponent’s balls, or it misses altogether, this is a foul.
  • No ball hitting the rail: if neither the object ball nor the cue ball hit the rail around the edge of the table, this is a foul. This is to designed to prevent negative play

• Potting the 8 Ball: the following situations are fouls, and result in the win being awarded to the other player.
  • Potting the 8 Ball before all your object balls have been potted.
  • Potting the cue ball and the 8 Ball on the same shot.
  • Potting any coloured ball before the 8 Ball on the same shot.
  • In a tier that requires calling pocket on the 8 Ball, potting the 8 Ball into an uncalled pocket.
  • NOTE: Potting the 8 Ball from the break off shot is not a foul. The 8 Ball will be respotted on the table, and play passes to the other player.

Game mechanics

• Breaking off
  • If you get to break off, you can move the cue ball anywhere in the space to the left of the white line.
  • If you pot one of more balls during your break you get another turn. However, the table will remain “open” so you can choose if you want pot the spots or stripes.
  • However, any spotted or striped balls potted during the break won’t count until you pot either pattern during your next turn.
  • If you pot the cue ball on your break, the opponent gets a ball in hand.
  • If the 8 Ball is potted on the break, if it will be placed back onto the table.

• Having a ball in hand
  • You will be able to move the cue ball anywhere on the table. Hover the mouse over the cue ball and it will change to a hand symbol for you to pick the ball up.
  • On Mobile just swipe to drag the ball around the table.

• Using spin
  • Spin can help you better position the cue ball after you’ve taken a shot, setting you up for your next one. You can also use it to snooker your opponent or stop you from potting the cue ball on your turn.
  • You can put spin on the ball by moving the red symbol on the cue ball with your mouse or using the arrow keys. That will cause the ball to spin in that direction after it’s hit a ball.
  • On Mobile, all you need to do is tap the cue ball in the top right of the screen and move the red circle to apply spin in that direction.

PROTIP: M A G I C C U E says “The key to being a great 8 Ball Pool player is positioning. Positioning of the cue ball is key and keeping a tight control on where that cue ball is at all times. Don’t smack the balls like your life depends on it. Use all of the time given to you and think about not just your first shot, but the very last shot you want to play.”

• Challenging/adding friends
  • You can challenge your Facebook friends if you’ve linked your Facebook and Miniclip accounts. Check our knowledge base to see how.
  • You can search for a user if you know their player name. NOTE: players will only show up in search if they are online.
  • You can search using user IDs (Mobile only).
  • You can add a player by clicking the “plus” sign on their profile picture.

• How do I earn coins/cash for free
  • You can earn 25 coins every 30 mins on Web and 1 hour on Mobile. Tap of the Free Coins button to get the coins.
  • You can also watch short adverts to earn coins.
  • You earn 1 Pool Cash each time you level up.
  • If you get to play against Big Rob during Beat the Boss you could win 50 Pool Cash!
• Experience points, levels and ranks
  • For information on this, check out this blog post.

Mini games

• Spin & Win
  • Spin the wheel to win a variety of prizes. The top prizes are pretty rare, but thousands of Lucky Cues are won each day! You get one free spin each day you log in.
• Scratch & Win
  • Scratch the cards to match 3 and win big. Not every card is a winner, but the prizes tend to be higher than Spin & Win.
• Hi-Lo
  • Guess if the next number will higher or lower – you can win up to 250k coins! You can cash out anytime over 500 coins.

PROTIP: Kunal908 says “The amount of power you use in your shot is always very important. If the ball is closer to the pocket, using a low power shot will be a better solution. Don’t try for longer shots with lot of power, otherwise there’s a higher chance the ball won’t go in. Practicing will make you perfect in deciding how much power you need to use in a shot”

Commonly Asked Questions

• If your issue requires more help you can contact our super-friendly Support team
  • Support also have an extensive knowledge base where you’ll probably be able to find a solution to your issue.
  • You can also contact Support directly and submit a ticket here or email support@miniclip.com.

• Using the Pool Shop
  • You can buy Pool cues, table frames, colours, patterns and chat phrases and Pool cash.
  • You can also buy Pool Coins and Cash.
  • Cues do not have any effect on gameplay – they’re just for showing off!

• How to turn chat phrases on/off, reorder phrases
  • Go into the settings menu, you can choose to ignore all chat phrases or not.
  • In the settings menu you can move your favourite chat phrases to the top of the list for easy selection during a match.

• Beat the Boss
  • Open to all users. They can challenge Big Rob, the Miniclip CEO! If they win they get a special award and 50 Pool Cash. We will announce the event on our Facebook page so keep an eye out.
  • Check our FAQ to find out all about Beat the Boss.

• Can I practice alone?
  • If you’re playing on Mobile you can practice for 25 coins.
  • There is no practice mode on Web but you can play our other pool game, Quick Fire Pool.

• Can I send you a trickshot video?
  • Yes, you can attach it to a Facebook message, send us a YouTube video or email us at social@miniclip.com.
  • Check out the trickshot masterclass videos on our YouTube channel to see the best.
  • Check out our blog post on making trickshot videos.

• Will you add free chat?
  • Sorry, but we won’t be adding unrestricted chat to our game. This is why.

• I’m playing on PC, can I play my friend on Mobile?
  • Unfortunately not. You can only play against people using the same device e.g. both on PC or using iOS and Android devices. Note that you don’t need to have the same device: an iPhone user can play an Android user, for example.

• Will you release 8 Ball Pool on Windows Phone?
  • There are currently no plans to release 8 Ball Pool on Windows Phone.

We hope that this has given you a great start to your 8 Ball Pool career, we’re looking forward to seeing you joining the ranks of the best players in the game. We’ll be continually updating this guide with new info about 8 Ball Pool. If you have any suggestions, let us know in the comments section or tell us on Facebook.

Let’s play some Pool!

The post 8 Ball Pool: Everything You Need To Know appeared first on The Miniclip Blog.

World Soccer Forever is a new game on Miniclip, putting your skills to the test in a series of player-versus-player challenges! There are tons of game modes, tournaments to win, coins to earn, trophies to unlock and customization options for your player and kit. We’ve put together this FAQ blog post to help you get the most out of the game.

Click the links below to head to a specific section, or scroll down for all the info you need on World Soccer Forever.

• What is World Soccer Forever?
• How do I play the game?
• Can I practice on my own?
• How do I play other game modes?
• How do I earn XP (Experience Points)?
• Buying and using items in the shop
• How can I check my Statistics?
• Why is my country not available in the game?
• How do I use my left foot?
• I scored more points than my opponent, but they still won!
• How do I customize my Player?
• Can I change the graphics settings?
• The game is asking me to install a plugin
• How can I share screenshots and videos?

What is World Soccer Forever?

World Soccer Forever is a multiplayer free kick game where you can play against real players around the world. You can customize your player and equip them with special boosts to enhance your performance. Remember, you’re playing against the top scores recorded by REAL players – now go prove that you’re the best!

How do I play the game?

Hold the left mouse button and move your mouse to swipe the ball towards the target. Try it out and hone your skills to get a more accurate kick. The Player with the most goals wins and in the event of a tie-breaker, the highest score wins. You get more points for shots close to the corners – aim for perfection!

Use a short mouse movement to hit the ball along the ground, and a longer swipe to give the ball some height. Be careful not to shoot over the bar though!

The faster you move the mouse, the more speed is generated. Faster shots will be harder for the keeper to save… but also require more control to make sure you don’t miss the target.

Swipe the mouse to take your shot.

Can I practice on my own before entering the multiplayer modes?

Yes, head over to Practice modes in the main menu where you can hone your skills at your own pace.

How do I play Free Kick Champ?

This mode is a tournament version of the standard free kick mode. You have to defeat three opponents to win the tournament. There is a 25 coin entry fee and the victor will win 200 coins.

How do I play Target Master?

Aim to hit the targets for maximum points! The more accurate your shots, the higher the points scored. Remember, the longer you swipe with the mouse, the higher your kick. Entry fee is 100 coins, and the prize is 500.

How do I play Long Ball Legend?

Test your long ball accuracy by hitting distant targets. Aim for maximum points for a higher score. Entry fee is 100, and you earn 500 for a win.

How do I play Woodwork Wizard?

The aim of this mode is to try and hit the crossbar as many times as you can. Entry fee is 100, and the prize is 500.

How do I play Pass Pro?

In this mode you must get the ball to your teammate so they can score. The faster you can make the pass, the more points you will get. Entry fee is 100, and you earn 500 for a win.

How do I unlock/play Division 1 Star, World Beater, Best of the Best, WSF Winner and Ultimate Prize?

Only experienced players can play these modes! Level up to unlock more game modes.

How do I earn XP (Experience Points)?

You earn XP every time you play regardless if you win a game or not, however, you will earn more XP if you win. Gaining XP increases your rank and allows you to unlock special game modes later on.

Earn XP by playing matches. Win to get more XP and level up more quickly!

How do I buy an Item in the Shop?

Click on Shop from the main menu or click any of the currency or shop buttons available in game. Then choose the item you would like to purchase. If you don’t have enough currency, you can continue playing to get some more or purchase more cash for real money.

How do I use the items I have bought?

The boost items will be used once the player has begun a match. Click the boost item before you take your kick to activate the boost or power up. You can select the Pitch and Ball items in the shop area once you have purchased the item and you will then see them once you are in-game.

What items can I buy?

There are many items in the shop. You can purchase Cash and Coins as well as new Kit and Stadium upgrades. In addition to these you can also buy Boosts listed here:

The video below shows what the power ups look like being used in the game.

Do I need to use real money to buy items?

You can achieve all items in the game for free by playing through the game and earning coins, apart from boosts. All new players receive a few free boosts to start with. You can purchase additional World Soccer Forever cash for real money if you don’t have enough for that special upgrade or boost item.

What is the difference between Cash and Coins?

Both Cash and Coins can be used to buy consumable items or permanent upgrades. The coins will allow the user to purchase the Pitch upgrades and entering tournaments. The Cash will be used to purchase the Balls (Kit), and Boost items. The coins can be earned through match wins or purchased in currency bundles.

How can I check my Statistics?

You can check you player stats by clicking on your player profile picture wherever you see it. For easy access you can find it on the main game page in the top left corner.

Level up to unlock more tournaments.

Why is my country not available in the game?

Currently, only the teams who have qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil are available. However, future updates will bring many more countries to choose from.

How do I use my left foot?

You can only use your right foot in the game. In World Soccer Forever’s multiplayer mode, you’re playing against top scores recorded by other players. As a result, the game may occasionally simulate your opponent as left-footed, using their data recorded when playing right-footed.

Hey, I scored more points than my opponent, but they still won!

Remember, the score is there as a tie-breaker. It’s all about who gets the most goals/hits out of five. If you score 5 out of 5 with 300 points, and your opponent scores 4 out of 5 with 350 points, you win as you scored 5 to their 4.

The score only comes into play in the event of a tie (for example, both players getting 5 out of 5). All the same, try to get as high a score as you can – you might need it!

How do I customize my Player?

From the Main Menu, click ‘Change Team’ or click on your players profile image and then click on ‘Customize’.

Customize your player!

Can I make World Soccer Forever look even better?

World Soccer Forever has three graphical settings, high medium and low. The default setting is low, but you can change it by clicking on the little “star” icon in the bottom right corner. For the true WSF experience, bump it up to the highest setting!

The game doesn’t run in my browser, it’s asking me to install a plugin.

The game requires you to install a Unity Plugin. This plugin allows you to play awesome 3D Miniclip games in your browser.

I’ve got some great screenshots and videos from WSF that I want to share with the world! How should I do this?

You can post it in the comments, email social@miniclip.com, or tweet it! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #worldsoccerforever to see great content from other players – our @Miniclip Twitter account will retweet the best ones!

Got another question that hasn’t been answered here? Hit the comments section!

The post World Soccer Forever – Everything You Need To Know appeared first on The Miniclip Blog.

Help, these jellies need to be rescued! Only YOU can save them and get them on the road to adventure in Jelly Mania, a mobile game for Android and iOS devices.

Match three jellies together to save them. Match four or five or more jellies for awesome jelly-rescuing power-ups!

Jelly Mania is a match-three game with a few twists… you’ll come across tons of new game modes as you travel through the levels: jumping out of the fridge, escaping the cat, and bursting forth into the world! It’s time to show off your jelly-saving skills!

Jelly Mania is available on Android and iOS, and we’ve got a huge new update to the game. What’s new in the update, you ask? How about…

• 3 new level packs, stuffed with adorable jellies and new game modes
• See where your Facebook friends are up to on each level
• Leaderboards on each level, showing how you compare to your friends
• Send and receive lives from friends to keep the jelly mania going!

Jelly Mania is out now, and free to download.

Get it and join the fun!

Download free on iOS

Download free on Android

The post Jelly Mania – play now on your mobile or tablet! appeared first on The Miniclip Blog.

Using Power-ups in Jelly Mania

Jelly Mania is our brand new match-3 game. Play through hundreds of levels and match 3 or more jellies, but remember you have limited moves to make! To help you complete each level, you have several power-ups at your disposal. We’ve put together this guide to help you get the most out of them.

The magic spoon will scoop up any jelly, or free jellies from ice. You can also use it to free cookies, although you’ll have to use multiple spoons.

The cross rainbow will shoot cross-shaped rainbow beams across the screen collecting any jellies in its path. Pick the best place to use it for maximum effect!

Combining sad and happy jellies makes them all sad and they won’t add to your collected jellies. This makes sad jellies happy so they add to your total when you collect them.

Using this makes the jellies worth more so they add more to your total saved jellies. It’s really useful when you have a few moves left and need to make the most of the jellies you collect.

This power allows you to swap two jellies without creating a match. Use this to get yourself into a better position to save some jellies with your next move.

This is one of the most powerful boosts at your disposal as not only can it be used to save tons of jellies in one move, you may also trigger a chain-reaction of other jelly matches!

Protip: The more moves you have left at the end of a level, the longer Mania Time will be. So try to use as fewer moves as possible to complete a level.

Don’t forget – all the power-ups recharge over time, or you can use gold to get them more quickly.

Okay, you’re now armed with everything you need to know in order to be a superstar at Jelly Mania. Let’s play now now on iOS and Android!

The post Jelly Mania – Power-up Guide appeared first on The Miniclip Blog.

We’re having a Best Goal Contest in World Soccer Forever, with prizes for the best! We’re looking for a video of an outrageous display of free kick skill to put before a judging panel that including the game’s creators!

World Soccer Forever is all about hitting the back of the net, as you try to outscore performances recorded by other players from all around the world. To win this contest, you’ll need to show us your mastery of power, swerve and accuracy.

What will you win?

For the winner, there’s a grand prize of 400 Cash and 50,000 Coins!

Four runners-up will also get 60 Cash and 7,000 Coins each.

• 1st 400 Cash 50000 Coins
• 2nd 60 Cash 7000 Coins
• 3rd 60 Cash 7000 Coins
• 4th 60 Cash 7000 Coins
• 5th 60 Cash 7000 Coins

How to win

Before you rush off and bend it like Beckham, remember you need to record a video of your shot to be in with a chance to win. Use screen-recording software like Bandicam or Camtasia. Just remember to hit the record button before you start.

You can upload your videos to YouTube and send them to us on Facebook or email them to us at social@miniclip.com. Don’t forget to tag your videos with #worldsoccerforever.

A stylish goal is the best goal!

What are the judges looking for?

You’ll be judged on:

• Distance
• Difficulty
• Accuracy
• Ball curve
• Style
• The Soccer Forever Factor

The crazier shots will have the best chance – things like outrageous curving free kicks from long range, or shots that smack in off the crossbar or post… or even a shot that flicks off the wall and into the net! Use your imagination to try and come up with the best goal.

A few hints

You can even use power-ups, don’t be afraid to be as flashy as you want. Send us as many videos as you want, we’ll pick the winning shot from the best of the bunch.

Take a look at the power-ups tutorial and see the kinds of shots you could be pulling off!

Now you know what you have to do, get on World Soccer Forever and get scoring!

The post World Soccer Forever – Best Goal Contest appeared first on The Miniclip Blog.

We ran a Best Goal contest in World Soccer Forever, with Coins & Cash going to the winner and four runners-up. Here, for your enjoyment, are the top 5 goals!

Congratulations to those who made the top 5 – your prizes have been added to your World Soccer Forever profiles! Huge thanks to everyone who entered.

Think you can score goals even more spectacular than these five? Play World Soccer Forever now!

The post World Soccer Forever – Contest Winners! appeared first on The Miniclip Blog.

Say hello to Strawberry Shortcake, the star of our new mobile game Berry Rush!

Strawberry and her friends want to bake tasty cakes, but they need your help. Run, slide and leap through the world of Berry Bitty City and grab all the strawberries, cherries, oranges and other yummy fruit you can find. Then it’s time to decorate your cake, and snap a picture to show your friends!

We’ve partnered with American Greetings Properties to co-create this mobile game based on the hugely-popular Strawberry Shortcake brand. Strawberry first appeared in 1980 and has been featured in a wide range of toys, games, crafts and books. Now, the little girl with the big personality is set to appear in her first-ever action game!

Berry Rush is in development at the moment, and will be released on iOS and Android later this summer. Here are some of the great features that we’re packing into the game:

• Play as your favorite Strawberry Shortcake character!
• Race through the colorful and amazing world of Berry Bitty City!
• Ride rainbows, leap off flowers and catch butterfly power-ups!
• Bake and decorate delicious cakes!
• Dress your characters with tons of cool outfits!
• Collect fruit and coins to make recipes and unlock cute puppy companions!

We’ll be back with more Berry Rush news for you in the next few weeks as we get closer to launch. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, and feast your eyes on these super-tasty screenshots from the latest version of the game!

Help Strawberry leap over obstacles and grab fruit!

Once you’ve collected enough fruit, it’s time to decorate some delicious cakes!

Run through a lush, colorful world.

Time for a little stroll along the beach – just watch those clamshells!

Look out for special power-ups along the way!

The post Berry Rush, a new Strawberry Shortcake game appeared first on The Miniclip Blog.

You’ve probably already heard about Cues With Powers coming to 8 Ball Pool – in this blog post, we lift the lid on this big upgrade to the game, to tell you everything you need to know.

Cues With Powers will be released as an update on mobile first, with the web version of the game getting the upgrade soon after.

What are Cues With Powers?

Ever wished your cue had greater shot strength, or could put even more spin on the ball than normal? How about when you’re on the black, and you want just a little more time to line up the winning shot? Cues With Powers will allow you to do all this and more – you’ll be able to take your game to the next level.

It’ll also add even more depth and strategy to 8 Ball Pool: we’ll be reintroducing the ability to switch your cues during games, allowing you to choose a cue for specific situations.

Each cue will have 4 different attributes:

1) Spin – this is the amount of spin you can put on your shot

2) Force - how hard you can hit the cueball

3) Aim – this determines the length of your aim-line when taking a shot

4) Time – this determines how much time you have to take your shot

Of course, there’s no insta-win cue – you’re still going to need skill to win!  But it does mean that some will be better suited for certain situations. You may want to use a Force cue to try and pot more balls off the break, or you may decide that a cue with a better Aim will help you make a game-winning shot into the middle pocket.

How will this affect the cues I already own?

You’ll keep all your existing cues, of course. But we’re also giving a free upgrade to every player who already owns a cue with attributes that are higher than the standard cue.

If your own a cue with lower attributes than the standard cue, don’t worry – they will not be downgraded. They’ll retain the same levels of force, aim, time and spin as the Standard cue – the one you’re used to at the moment.

This update is automatic – if you own a cue already, you’ll find the upgraded version of the cue in your collection and ready to go as soon as we update the game.

All the cues

As well as upgrading the cues that are in the game at the moment, we’re also adding OVER EIGHTY new cues! Our personal favorites so far are the Shark, Galaxy, Titan and Sheriff cue, and we’ll bring you a closer look at all the other new ones in another blog post soon.

Oh, we’re also including a load of new country cues, including the Philippines, Algeria, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia. Get ready to play some patriotic pool!

Don’t forget – you can switch cue at any time, even during a game.

We’re introducing LOTS of new cues to the game.

What about existing boosts?

The existing boosts - the spin, aim and power boosts that you can buy in the shop – are no longer going to be part of 8 Ball Pool. You’ve still got a few weeks to use up the ones you have at the moment, before Cues With Powers arrive in the game. We recommend you use them up before the update!

Playing on mobile

Cues With Powers is coming to mobile first, then the web version of the game soon after. Remember, if you’re playing on web or Facebook you can only play against other players also on web or Facebook, so you won’t be going up against players who are playing on mobile who already have the update.

Charge your cue for maximum benefit

Every cue has a maximum charge of 50 shots, although you can recharge it at any time with Pool Coins. You can also set it to auto-recharge, so you never have to break up your flow during a game. You can play on with an uncharged cue, but its attributes will be lower than normal. Auto-recharge is set to ON by default: you can change this easily by tapping on one of your cues and setting auto-recharge to OFF.

Remember, if you do run out of charge during a game and don’t want to charge up, you can always switch to another cue in your collection mid-game.

Get Pool Cash with the update

The update will also add 2 Pool Cash to your balance to get you started with some of those new cues

More news soon

We’ll bring you a close look at all the new cues, plus all the latest news on Cues With Powers, over the next few weeks as we get closer to launch. Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter for your daily dose of all things 8 Ball Pool.

Last week we revealed our upcoming Strawberry Shortcake mobile game, Berry Rush. We’re putting some finishing touches to the game at the moment, and are super-excited about you getting to play the final version!

We thought this’d be a great time to tell you a little more about the game and how it works.

How to play Berry Rush

So, what’s Berry Rush all about?

The goal of the game is to collect fruit as you race through the world of Berry Bitty City. As you steer Strawberry through lush green fields, sandy beaches and shady woodland, you’ll need to help her leap over rocks, duck under bridges and dodge giant plants that might block her way.

Swipe up to jump, down to duck and left and right to dodge. You’ll need good reactions and an awareness of the obstacles up ahead to keep Strawberry on her run!

Power up!

As Strawberry moves through the world, you’ll find plenty of power-ups to help you in your quest. Grab a watering can to sprout a green plant and launch you into the air, and catch a special butterfly boost that lets Strawberry take to the skies for a short spell!

From there, you’ll get the perfect view of the world that we’ve created in the game. Berry Bitty City is a super-colorful world – just try not to spend too long admiring the scenery or you might find Strawberry’s run coming to an end sooner than you’d like!

What’s next?

In our next blog post, we’ll take a little look at the cake-decorating part of Berry Rush… and some of Strawberry’s friends, who are also playable characters in the game.

As always, don’t forget to check out our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for all the latest Berry Rush news!

Oh, and just for you… here’s an exclusive first-look of Berry Rush in action!

Blog Post: Introducing Berry Rush

On The Run has been a hugely-popular series of games on Miniclip for several years, and now it’s going mobile. Check out this first-ever gameplay trailer of On The Run in action.

Like what you see? On The Run is coming real soon to iOS and Android devices – in the meantime, follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest info.

We’ll be back with another development blog soon, lifting the lid on a little more about the game!

If you haven’t seen already, we’ve brought a few classic indie titles and hot mobile games to our site recently. We’ve got games like Soccer Physics, Ski Safari and Swing Copters all available for you to play on Miniclip – no smartphone required! Better yet, we’ve got even more on the way. Let’s take a look at some more awesome titles that have hit Miniclip.com in the last few weeks, or are coming real soon.

SUPERHOT

SUPERHOT is a unique, super-stylish FPS-puzzler where time only moves when you do. You have to plan your next move carefully, because if you don’t, you could end up with a bullet in the back and game over. SUPERHOT was launched on Kickstarter on May 14th where it reached its funding goal in less than 24 hours! Use pinpoint aiming to kill your enemies but remember, their bullets – and yours – move whenever you do.

In each level, SUPERHOT sets you up in a different scenario which you need to use your wits to overcome. Play the SUPERHOT prototype on Miniclip, before it launches on Xbox One!

VVVVVV

V-6, Vee or Vs is the 2D puzzle platformer from Terry Cavanagh. You play as Captain Viridian, lost in an alternate dimension tasked with finding your lost crewmates and your ship. Your path is blocked by deadly spikes and pitfalls, but you can’t jump over them. Captain Viridian has the ability to control gravity, allowing him to walls on ceilings and walls.

VVVVVV is out now, play it on Miniclip.com. Anyone who’s played it before will know that it’s a really relaxing game… honest…

Plants vs Zombies

An excellent tower defense strategy game that has you defending your house from zombies with… weaponized plants? Place units such as sunflowers, mushrooms and walnuts across your garden to defend against the zombie hordes.

There are also different zombies types so you’ll have to come up with different strategies to overcome each challenge. You can play Plants vs Zombies right now on Miniclip.com!

Canabalt

The game that launched the endless runner genre, Canabalt has a great minimalist look and awesome pixel art style. No powerups, currency or collectibles. Just you running as far as you can. Avoid boxes, jump through windows and across collapsing buildings.

Canabalt is coming later this year to Miniclip.com!

Bejeweled 3

One of the very first games in the match-3 genre, Bejeweled is an addictive fast paced puzzler. Who knew that the simplicity of matching 3 gems would lead to the game being ported to 8 different platforms across PC, mobile and consoles!

Bejeweled 3 actually improves on perfection by adding new gameplay modes like Zen, Lightning and Quest mode and a few hidden secrets too. This game will be out on Miniclip soon!

Zuma’s Revenge

Zuma’s Revenge is another classic puzzle matching game where you control a frog and match colored stones to complete each level. You’ve got to make sure that the stones don’t reach the end of the track or you’ll lose a life! Don’t panic though, you’ve got loads of powers to use to get an edge.

At Miniclip, we love games and we’re committed to bringing the best games to our players. We want you to have the best gaming experiences which is why we’re bringing some of the best indie and mobile titles to our site for you to enjoy again, or experience for the very first time!

All of these games will be released on Miniclip.com soon, so keep an eye out!

World Soccer Forever landed on Miniclip during this year’s World Cup, but – as any soccer fan knows – the sport didn’t stop at the end of that tournament. Nope, soccer is a year-round event and, with the Champions League and other competitions all now underway, we thought this would be the perfect time to bring you a big new update to one of our most popular games from this year.

If you’re not familiar with World Soccer Forever, you can play it right here or check out this blog post that has everything you need to know about the game. But for those who have already been smashing in the goals in the game, here’s what we’re going to be adding to make it even better. Here’s the quick trailer, but read on for the full run-down of all the new features!

New scenarios

Thought you’d mastered every freekick set-up that World Soccer Forever had to offer, with Cristiano Ronaldo-like precision? Think again: we’ve got a load of new scenarios on the way. New positions, new defensive wall formations… all of which will present a new challenge to even the most experienced player.

New scenarios present new challenges.

New scoring system

World Soccer Forever is about to start rewarding your goalscoring skills in all-new ways. As before, you’ll still be trying to hit the back of the net, and you’ll be given a point score for how close you can get to the top corners. However, in the new version, there’s also a bonus score up for grabs: you’ll be given bonus points based on Time, Power and Curve. So a quick shot with high power and super-curve will give you the most points – providing the goalkeeper doesn’t save it, of course. Speaking of keepers…

Smarter goalkeepers

One of the biggest bits of feedback we’ve had for World Soccer Forever concerns the game’s goalkeepers. In particular, you wanted them to be a little smarter and better at shot-stopping. This is something we’ve addressed in the update – you’ll find that the new keepers are a little harder to beat!

New bonus scoring system rewards you for speed, power and curve.

Coin toss

In World Soccer Forever, you’re playing against the best performances recorded by real players from all around the world. In the past, you always took the first turn, then saw your opponent’s recorded shot. Now, there’ll be a coin toss at the start of each round to determine who goes first. This means that you’ll now be feeling a bit more pressure if your opponent has the first shot and gets a good score!

And more!

These are some of the biggest features coming in this update, but we’re also making a whole host of minor improvements. Just like in 8 Ball Pool and Soccer Stars, you’ll soon be able to use your Facebook picture as your profile image in World Soccer Forever. We’ve also been working to improve matchmaking in the game, and a couple of other things under the hood to make the game run even better.

This update is coming to World Soccer Forever real soon – keep an eye on our Facebook page and our Twitter feed for all the latest news!

Each game now starts with a coin toss to determine who goes first.