A Pool Table Becomes a Battlefield in Palette PanicÂ
Tower defense games are getting a colorful twist with Palette Panic, a new game from Stray Bristle Games that mixes pool, color combinations, and enemy waves into one unusual package.
Announced for Windows and macOS via Steam, Palette Panic will let players defend a pool table from waves of enemies using carefully planned billiard shots. A free demo is scheduled to launch in November 2026, with the full game set to follow in 2027.
The main idea is simple, but the execution looks anything but. Players use a silver cue ball to knock colored balls into each other, creating new colors through collisions. Smashing a red ball into a yellow one, for example, turns both orange. Meanwhile, colliding two purple balls splits them back into red and blue.
Players then need to use those colored balls against enemies approaching across the table. That can mean lining up direct shots, banking balls off walls, or setting up complicated collisions to create the exact color needed.
Things get even trickier as new enemies and obstacles enter the mix. Scorpions can capture and destroy balls, chameleons can change color, and frogs move by hopping instead of following standard paths. Portals and obstacles can also completely change enemy routes and force players to rethink their shots.
Palette Panic is now available to wishlist on Steam, with its free demo arriving later this year. With its strange but surprisingly clever combination of billiards and tower defense, Palette Panic could offer a refreshing change of pace for players looking for something a little different.