$9.79POOLS Quiet dread in empty water
Wander vast tiled pool complexes where nothing chases you, yet every echoing hallway feels a little wrong.
Is POOLS worth it?
POOLS is worth it if…
- you like horror built on atmosphere and dread rather than monsters and jump scares
- you find empty, liminal spaces strangely beautiful and strangely unsettling at once
- you want a calm, low-pressure game you can explore at your own pace
- you would rather wander a dreamlike place than solve puzzles or fight anything
Screenshots
Walking, listening, and nothing else
There is no interface, no dialogue and no background music. You walk, you look, you listen. Your footsteps and the echo of dripping water change with each room, and wading through water slows you down, so your own body becomes the main way you sense the space. That is the whole game, and it works: with nothing competing for attention, every distant sound and every empty corridor carries weight. It plays on the fear of getting lost, of the dark, of tight spaces. You scare yourself here, and it is remarkably effective.
Six chapters, each its own strange place
The base game has six chapters, each taking roughly 10 to 30 minutes, and each with its own character. There is no story in the usual sense: no characters, no notes to read. Instead, the world itself changes as you go. Rooms look and feel different from one chapter to the next, and each place carries its own kind of mystery. Mostly you are finding exits through mazes, and sometimes the game genuinely tests your sense of direction. Mostly, though, you are just there.
What should you know before playing?
Is there any way to fail or die?
Not in any meaningful sense. There are no enemies, no timers and no game over. The tension comes entirely from the places themselves: the dark, the tight corridors, the feeling of being watched in a space where you are alone. If you want a horror experience without the stress of survival, this is the point of the game.
Can you play it in VR?
Yes, VR support is built in, so you can step into the poolrooms directly. Standing in a vast tiled hall with water lapping at your feet, with the echoes answering your every move, is exactly the kind of place VR was made for. If you have a headset, it is worth trying both ways.
How long is a playthrough?
That puts a full run somewhere in the range of one to three hours, depending on how much you linger and how often you take a wrong turn in the mazes. It is a short, focused experience rather than a long one.
Do you need to like horror to enjoy it?
Not necessarily. Despite the unsettling tone, it plays like a slow, relaxing exploration game: nothing threatens you, nothing punishes you, and you move at your own pace. If eerie emptiness appeals to you more than it frightens you, you can treat it as a strange, beautiful place to wander through and simply enjoy the quiet.
