In Fascination Pool, Remco mashed-up a traditional maze and a miniature pool table into a dexterity game for one or more players. Released in 1953, the tabletop game was a new entry into the company’s Fascination gaming line.
GAMEPLAY
The object of Fascination Pool was to get six coloured balls (black, blue, green, red, white, yellow) into the six pockets of matching colours.
At the start of each game, the ball were placed using a rack on the coloured triangle in the centre of the table. After the rack was removed, a player picked up the table and held it so that it could be tilted in any direction.
As a player manipulated the playing surface, a single point was scored for each ball navigated into a matching colour palette. Dropping a ball into the wrong pocket or multiple balls into a single pocket resulted in no points. If, by skill or by luck, a player managed to get all six balls into the correct matching pockets, they were awarded a bonus rack. Once all balls were in pockets, the score was tallied and the game was reset and passed to the next player.
The first player to score 24 points through multiple rounds of play was declared the winner.
IN THE BOX
A complete game included a plastic playing surface, plastic rack, six balls, and a paper scoring pad. Printed instructions were included in the box, which also had a mail-in order form to order an extra set of pool balls.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
While Fascination Pool was only on the market for several years, copies are often available online. A telltale sign of a game with minimal usage is an unused scorepad and a pool table free of noticeable markings.
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