POOLS Review Summary

A hauntingly beautiful dive into liminal spaces with striking visuals and an eerie atmosphere, but crashes, repetitive gameplay, and motion sickness mar the experience.

Eerie and Unsettling Atmosphere: The game offers a unique and eerie atmosphere that is both unsettling and beautiful. It creates a sense of tension and psychological horror without relying on traditional scares.

Stunning Visual Design: The game features visually stunning graphics with high-quality environmental design, impressive lighting, and reflections. Players appreciate the beautiful locations, surreal visuals, and realistic water effects.

Excellent Sound Design: The sound design is highly praised for being effective and immersive. It enhances the overall atmosphere and contributes significantly to the game's tension and immersion.

No Traditional Scares: The game avoids using jump scares, monsters, or chase scenes, making it suitable for players who prefer atmospheric horror without sudden frights.

Immersive Experience: The game offers a highly immersive experience with detailed artwork, soundscapes, and atmospheric elements that draw players in.

Game crashes and performance issues: Players reported crashes, particularly on the second level and in VR mode, as well as performance issues on Steam Deck.

Repetitive and monotonous gameplay: The gameplay was criticized for being repetitive and monotonous, lacking excitement and challenges.

Motion sickness issues: Several reviews mentioned that the game can cause motion sickness, especially in VR mode.

Gameplay can be boring: Some players found the game boring, particularly in certain chapters or due to repetitive scenery and gameplay.

Limited gameplay mechanics: The core gameplay consists mostly of walking and observing, which may not be suitable for those seeking more active gameplay.

Exploration of liminal spaces: The game focuses on the exploration of liminal spaces, including labyrinths, interconnected rooms, and pool-based environments. Players navigate through complex and creatively designed areas, discovering scenes and solving puzzles to find exits.

Exploration-based gameplay mechanics: Gameplay is centered around exploration, with mechanics that encourage players to investigate various environments. This includes survival elements and first-person exploration, creating an immersive experience.

Unique and varied level design: Levels are uniquely designed with maze-like structures and diverse environments, such as flooded cities and hotels. This variety keeps the exploration experience fresh and engaging.

Pool core mechanics: The game features core mechanics centered around pools, including 3D pool models and water effects. Players interact with various pools and water mechanics throughout the game.

VR support and immersion: The game offers VR support, enhancing immersion through compatibility and design tailored for virtual reality. This feature allows players to experience the liminal spaces more intensely.

Well-optimized game performance: The game is praised for its excellent optimization, running smoothly on various hardware configurations, including lower-end systems and older hardware.

Crashing and stability issues: Several players have reported crashes, particularly in specific levels and in VR mode. These issues affect the overall stability of the game.

VR performance and issues: VR mode has mixed reviews, with some players experiencing frequent crashes and performance issues, while others note significant improvements. Motion sickness and visual issues are also reported.

Miscellaneous bugs and issues: Various bugs and issues have been reported, including glitching, resolution issues, infinite loading, and specific bugs like the blackscreen bug in chapter 3 and the MacOS pools display bug.

Optimization and performance improvements: The game has seen performance improvements through updates, with options like DLSS and FSR enhancing optimization. However, some players still wish for more optimization.

Atmospheric exploration and psychological horror: This game is highly recommended for players who enjoy atmospheric exploration and psychological horror. It offers a unique experience with eerie environments, good sound design, and a focus on exploration rather than interactions or jump scares.

Backrooms and liminal spaces theme: Fans of backrooms and liminal spaces will find this game particularly appealing. It captures the essence of these themes and provides an atmospheric exploration experience without relying on jump scares.

Dreamlike and immersive experiences: The game provides a dreamlike and immersive experience, making it ideal for those who appreciate unique visuals and atmospheric exploration. It is also recommended for players seeking a relaxing and deeply immersive VR experience.

Worth trying and purchasing on sale: Many reviewers suggest that the game is worth trying and purchasing, especially when it is on sale. It offers a unique experience that may justify the price for fans of the genre.

Recommended for VR players: The game is highly recommended for VR players, as it offers an enhanced and immersive experience. VR headset owners who enjoy atmospheric and exploratory games will find this game particularly appealing.

Community fair range: $8.00 - $10.00.

Game completion: 7.0h.

Story completion: 2.3h.

Session length: 1.0h.

The game is engaging and fun from the start, with a satisfying progression and atmosphere that keeps players hooked immediately.

Unlock drivers: Engaging atmosphere; Satisfying progression; Organic puzzles.

Aesthetic Explorer: Explores the game at a leisurely pace, taking in the visuals and atmosphere. Motivation: Appreciation of visual and atmospheric qualities. Stance: buy.

Casual Relaxer: Plays the game in a relaxed manner, often while doing other activities like listening to music. Motivation: Relaxation and casual enjoyment. Stance: sale.

Completionist Hunter: Systematically explores the game to find all achievements and hidden secrets. Motivation: Completion of the game and discovery of secrets. Stance: deep sale.

Performance varies significantly across different hardware cohorts, with higher VRAM configurations generally reporting better experiences. Lower VRAM setups struggle with optimization issues and instability.

Windows <8GB VRAM: negative. Users report frequent freezes, stutters, and poor performance despite various settings adjustments.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. Users experience significant issues with anti-aliasing and overall poor visual performance.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. Users report smooth performance and good optimization.

Steam Deck: The Steam Deck experience with POOLS is a mix of positive feedback and significant technical issues. While many users enjoyed the game's atmosphere and performance, others faced crashes, errors, and compatibility issues that required additional tinkering. The overall experience is marred by these technical barriers, which affect the seamless playability of the game.

Linux and Proton: The game generally runs well on Proton and has a native Linux version, which is appreciated by users. However, there are notable issues with graphical glitches and performance on specific Linux setups, as well as difficulties with installation and setup. The overall experience varies depending on the hardware and Linux distribution used.

External guides: The game presents significant challenges in navigation and exploration, often requiring external guides for progression. However, it is praised for its visual and atmospheric design, which creates a satisfying and tense experience.