POOLS
Released Apr 2024
Walking simulator. Explore, admire and listen. Uncanny. Relaxing. Unnerving. Eerie. Immersive. No monsters chasing you or jumping at your screen, but can feel oppressive at times by invoking fears of getting lost, the dark, tight spaces and liminal space architecture. Inspired by backrooms.
95% positive · 6,707 reviews
Not yet
Released, but still in active development
Medium confidence
Active Development
Not yet
Released, but still in active development
Medium confidence
Active Development
Where to buy
Steam $9.79
Can't confirm — worth a look
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Evaluation
POOLS launched on April 26, 2024 with six chapters as a complete base experience. Tensori has continued actively building on it with free updates. In October 2024, the developer signaled a new chapter and VR support were in progress. Chapter 0 — a free new level — shipped on April 21, 2025, followed by full PC VR support on May 30, 2025. Feature and polish patches continued through June 3, 2025, and a complete VR graphics overhaul shipped on December 19, 2025 — the most recent developer communication.
This establishes a sustained pattern of major content drops roughly every six months: Chapter 0 in April 2025, PC VR in May 2025, and the VR overhaul in December 2025. In the April 2025 Chapter 0 announcement, Tensori also stated that App Store, PS5, and PS VR2 releases are planned for later that year — none of those have been confirmed shipped on this platform, suggesting ongoing work remains. The developer explicitly noted in that same post that thanks to player support, they are now "a fully-fledged, real studio" continuing to develop POOLS.
The last developer communication was December 19, 2025, approximately nine months before today (September 24, 2026). The established cadence between major releases has ranged from roughly one to six months. Nine months of silence is notable, but the App Store and console releases announced in April 2025 represent outstanding commitments that have not been confirmed as complete, and Tensori has not issued any statement indicating development has concluded. The silence alone — without a developer statement of completion — is not sufficient to mark the game as finished given those outstanding announcements.
Evidence
Feature patch with complete VR graphics overhaul and numerous bug fixes; most recent developer communication
PC VR mode launched as a free update to all owners
Content
1 of 1 released · no outstanding content
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
Tensori
Achievements
24
Platform
Windows, macOS, Linux
Controller
full support
Steam Deck
Verified
Players
Single-player
About this game
One could say POOLS is like an art gallery where you look around and listen to the sounds. Very few things to accomplish or solve, practically a few mazes. Sometimes POOLS 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.
Base game 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:
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.
Base game 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)
Are these done yet?
Last evaluated Sep 24, 2026
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