Choose Carom Billiards
Choose Carom Billiards if you want the Steam Leaderboards side of the pairing. Carom Billiards launched in 2020.
Carom Billiards vs Friends Play Pool
Carom Billiards and Friends Play Pool both land in Sports, Simulation on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Sports, Simulation on Steam. Carom Billiards (2020) is 3 years older than Friends Play Pool (2023). Carom Billiards is currently ~17% cheaper on Steam than Friends Play Pool (4.99 USD vs. 5.99 USD). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Friends Play Pool
Choose Friends Play Pool if you want a Strategy, Massively Multiplayer, and Casual game with Shared/Split Screen, Online PvP, and Shared/Split Screen PvP. On Steam, it's the newer release (2023) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Friends Play Pool launched in 2023.
Both Carom Billiards and Friends Play Pool sit in Sports and Simulation on Steam and both list Multi-player, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Carom Billiards |  Friends Play Pool | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Genres | Sports, Simulation | Sports, Strategy, Simulation, Massively Multiplayer, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Unrated |
| Price | 4.99 USD | 5.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 5 reviews | 3 reviews |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer | Multi-player |
| Developers | Pix Arts | mwit |
Side by side
- Both share Sports, Simulation on Steam.
- Carom Billiards (2020) is 3 years older than Friends Play Pool (2023).
- Carom Billiards is currently ~17% cheaper on Steam than Friends Play Pool (4.99 USD vs. 5.99 USD).
Carom Billiards vs Friends Play Pool — FAQ
- Should I play Carom Billiards or Friends Play Pool first?
- If you want chronology, Carom Billiards (2020) came out before Friends Play Pool (2023). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Carom Billiards and Friends Play Pool similar?
- They overlap on Sports, Simulation on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.