Review : Pools

Brick-lined circular chamber with tall columns and small square windows, partially flooded with dark reflective water. A central brick platform and staircases rise above the water beneath a large round skylight that casts soft light from above. Overlaid text reads “Pools – 2023: Tensori – iPad” with a three-star rating.

“Backrooms” horror or “liminal spaces” horror is my kinda horror. Essentially it taps into that fear of being lost in an in between space. A hotel corridor. An office. A service corridor in a mall. A space that exists purely to serve as a conduit between spaces. You’re not supposed to spend that much time there. And why the Hell would you want to?

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The “Backrooms” themselves have a long running internet history you can read about on Wikipedia here. An interpretation of the Backrooms by YouTuber “Kane Pixels” is being made into a feature length film in 2026 by no less than A24. (Trailer comes out soon! Can’t wait). In light of that trailer coming out I thought I’d finish off this review of Pools. An aquatic spin on the backrooms concept.

Three curved water slides in red, yellow, and blue descend from a brick stairway into a shallow indoor pool. The space is a tall circular brick chamber with narrow columns, small square windows, and soft light filtering down from above.

It’s a rather short experience. it took me less than 2 hours to work my whole way through and there’s not that much in the way of replayability. it’s very much an experience type of game, which is totally fine by me. Walking simulators. Short experiences, bring it on.

It’s got a great unnerving style as you walk around. Each of the 6 levels ¹ has a different style and things just get weirder and weirder as you progress. Graphics even on iPad are very well done and as your character is viewing the world via the lens of an old camcorder you get lensflare and chromatic aboration out the wazoo (Which can be turned off in the options). There is a VR version out there and I imagine that is supremely atmospheric as you walk around these impossible spaces.

Controls are basic, you walk around. All you can do is zoom in/out, crouch and run. That’s it. I did find it funny that there was also an audio option to have your character in shoes or barefoot that alters the sound of their feet as they walk.

There’s no definitive interpretation of the ending that I could find online. There are some Reddit conversations about possible disturbing themes. All I can say, is if it was the intent of the piece that it was referring to such serious topics, it certainly doesn’t achieve its purpose in that regard.

Speculation on themes

This Reddit thread talks about possible themes of murder and/or abuse.

I think this is not the case and is just looking into it and trying to explain too much. It’s not that deep and it’s not that clever. If it is supposed to be exploring these themes it’s so weak and obtuse that it utterly fails at it.

Even the description of the game refers to it as a “Bit like a virtual museum” and “uncanny, relaxing, unnerving, eerie, immersive”. It’s all these things sure, but it’s not something you’re going to be pondering the themes of for long…

A surreal scene of numerous pale, mannequin-like human figures intertwined in a tangled mound at the center of a circular tiled room. Several figures stand around the pile, lifting or supporting others with outstretched arms, while a dark circular opening in the floor sits beneath them. The space features tall white columns, curved walls, and soft, diffuse lighting.

White tiled wall with a large arched opening leading into a darker tiled passage. Two human hands grip the edge of the wall from behind, one above the other, as if someone is peeking around the corner.

Surreal scene in a dark room with a giant pale arm rising from the floor, its hand pinching a tiny human figure beneath a bright circular light. A large sculpted face with hollow eyes and an open mouth looms on the wall. Small human-like figures stand scattered across a checkerboard floor, some bent or crouched, under dramatic, high-contrast lighting.

Whilst I feel art can be about the journey rather than the destination, doubly true in an interactive absorbing medium like games ², unfortunately, the ending does drag the piece down for me. It’s such a short and focused experience with so much care put into its set pieces it would have been great to walk away from it with a greater feeling than “That was weird and fun…” and my only question I’m left pondering to be “Was that it?”

It’s not a masterpiece, and not something I would re-visit. I sort of wish it was a quiet classic and more than the sum of its parts… Sadly it’s not.

But for £9.99 it’s absolutely compelling enough to give a go if you’re at least quiet horror curious or want to flex the graphical capabilities of your iPad.

Find out more at poolsthegame.com

6 plus a prequel level added later ↵
Ebert was wrong 🤷 ↵