POOLS

Walking simulator. Explore, admire and listen. Uncanny. Relaxing. Unnerving. Eerie. Immersive. No monsters chasing you or jumping towards at your screen, but can feel oppressive at times by invoking fears of getting lost, the dark, tight spaces and liminal space architecture.

Walking simulator. Explore, admire and listen. Uncanny. Relaxing. Unnerving. Eerie. No monsters chasing you or jumping at your screen

One could say POOLS is like an art gallery where you look around and listen to the sounds. There are very few things to solve, practically a few mazes. Sometimes the game can challenge your navigation skills. But mostly you're just... there.

Note: There are no monsters chasing you or jumping suddenly towards you, but the game can feel oppressive. POOLS plays on fears of getting lost, the dark, and tight spaces.

The game has no user-interface and no dialogue. No background music. Instead, the game uses sounds to make you feel like you're really there. The sounds and echo change depending on the room you're in. Walking in water is slower. All of these things makes the game feel more real and creates a tense atmosphere.

There's no typical story, no characters to meet, and you won't find any notes in game. But as you explore and advance further, you start to notice that the game's world changes around you. Rooms look and feel different. Each chapter has something unique. Constantly you're exploring new places, each with its own kind of mystery.

POOLS has six unique chapters, each taking 10 to 30 minutes to play.

POOLS is inspired by a internet phenomenons "Liminal spaces", "Found footage" and "Backrooms" - specifically "Backrooms Pools" or "Poolrooms".

One of the original artists behind the Poolrooms concept is Jared Pike.

Other inspirations include:

  • Matt Studios: Poolrooms videos from 2022
  • Mortain Colors
  • Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1 by Andrew Quist
  • Kane Pixels: The Backrooms (Found Footage)
ESRB Everyone
Everyone
  • Mild Fantasy Violence
Base Game
$9.79
Epic RewardsEarn 5% back
Refund TypeSelf-Refundable
DeveloperTensori
Publisher
Tensori
Release Date
Platform
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POOLS Editions

POOLS
Base Game

POOLS

Walking simulator. Explore, admire and listen. Uncanny. Relaxing. Unnerving. Eerie. Immersive. No monsters chasing you or jumping towards at your screen, but can feel oppressive at times by invoking fears of getting lost, the dark, tight spaces and liminal space architecture.

$9.79
POOLS Demo

Walking simulator. Explore, admire and listen. Uncanny. Relaxing. Unnerving. Eerie. Immersive. No monsters chasing you or jumping towards at your screen, but can feel oppressive at times by invoking fears of getting lost, the dark, tight spaces and liminal space architecture.

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POOLS Ratings & Reviews

88%
Critics Recommend
78
Top Critic Average
Strong
OpenCritic Rating
See All Reviews (Opens in new tab)

WellPlayed

by James Wood

8.5 / 10

“POOLS is an impressively immersive and harrowing trudge through waters that threaten to drown you in its high fidelity, unsettling take on the limenal space horror genre.”

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GameSpew

by Richard Seagrave

8 / 10

“Some players will find Pools relaxing. Others will find it unsettling. Whatever the case, it's compelling from beginning to end. The only disappointment is that it's so short.”

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GameGrin

by Dylan Pamintuan

9 / 10

“POOLS is not for the easily anxious, even if there's nothing in the water to pull you down. The sounds alone will make you fear the depths. You should”

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Reviews provided by OpenCritic

POOLS System Requirements

Minimum

OS version

10

CPU

Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 from around 2016 or later

Memory

8

GPU

NVIDIA GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580 or newer

Storage

3 GB

Additional Notes

Laptops can work too. Minimum settings tested on 2021 Lenovo thinkpad, works smoothly with low settings and lower resolution setting. Recommended settings tested with best settings on 1080p. For 4k with best settings NVIDIA 4080 or AMD RX 7900 is recommended.

Recommended

OS version

11

CPU

Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 7 from 2018 or later

Memory

16

GPU

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT or newer

DirectX

DirectX 11

Languages Supported

Audio:
  • Arabic
  • Bulgarian
  • Catalan
  • Chinese (Simplified)
  • Chinese (Traditional)
  • Croatian
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • English
  • Finnish
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Hebrew
  • Hindi
  • Hungarian
  • Indonesian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Lithuanian
  • Malay
  • Norwegian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Spanish (Latin America)
  • Spanish (Spain)
  • Swedish
  • Tagalog
  • Thai
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
  • Vietnamese
  • Welsh
Text:
  • Arabic
  • Bulgarian
  • Catalan
  • Chinese (Simplified)
  • Chinese (Traditional)
  • Croatian
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • English
  • Finnish
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Hebrew
  • Hindi
  • Hungarian
  • Indonesian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Lithuanian
  • Malay
  • Norwegian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Spanish (Latin America)
  • Spanish (Spain)
  • Swedish
  • Tagalog
  • Thai
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
  • Vietnamese

Copyright Tensori Oy

* The lowest price offered on the Epic Games Store in the last 30 days before discount