Games

What Is the Game Pools? The Poolrooms Game, and Real Places That Feel Like Pools

Published: 2026-09-28

Pools (POOLS) is a game in which you simply walk, swim and slide through empty tiled swimming pools. There are no enemies, no dialogue and no music, yet something feels off. This article covers the basics of the game, the Poolrooms that inspired it, the platforms you can play it on, and real places that feel like Pools.

A drained indoor swimming pool with white tiles and ceiling lights — A drained indoor pool in Vancouver, Canada. With no people and no water, it looks like a scene from the game. Photo: Joe Mabel (CC BY-SA 3.0), Source: Wikimedia Commons

What Kind of Game Is Pools?

Pools was developed by the Finnish studio Tensori and released for PC (on Steam and other stores) on April 26, 2024. You walk, swim and ride water slides alone through a facility where tiled pools continue like a maze.

According to its Steam page, the game has no UI, no dialogue, no music, no story and no characters. All you hear is water, footsteps and echoes. It is divided into chapters of about 10 to 30 minutes each. On top of the six chapters at launch, a free new chapter, "Chapter 0," was added in April 2025.

It Grew Out of the Poolrooms

The Steam page for Pools lists as inspirations the internet phenomena of "liminal spaces" and "the Backrooms," and especially their offshoot, the "Poolrooms." It also names Jared Pike as one of the artists who shaped the Poolrooms.

According to an interview in PC Gamer (March 2024), Pools began as the developer's hobby, a free-time project. It is essentially the Poolrooms images, endless tiled spaces either dry or filled with water, turned into spaces you can walk through. For more on the Poolrooms themselves, see our article "What Are the Poolrooms?"

Platforms and Language Support

It first launched on PC (Steam, Epic, GOG and itch.io), and more platforms followed. PC VR support arrived in May 2025, and in November 2025 it came to the App Store (iPhone, iPad and Mac) and to PS5 and PS VR2. A Nintendo Switch version followed in February 2026.

The Steam version is listed as supporting Japanese. Since the game has almost no dialogue or text to begin with, however, only the menus are translated. You will have no trouble playing it regardless of language.

Is Pools a Scary Game?

Its Steam page states clearly that there are no monsters and no jump scares. You will not be chased or attacked.

Even so, it has dark places, cramped places and places where no exit seems to exist, so there is a fear of getting lost or trapped, which the Steam page also warns about. It may be closer to call it not a game that scares you, but a game for experiencing unsettling spaces.

An indoor public swimming pool in Obihiro, Hokkaido — A Japanese municipal pool. The moment the voices stop, the space starts to mean something else. Photo: Yasu (CC BY-SA 3.0), Source: Wikimedia Commons

Real Places That Feel Like Pools

Pools with endless empty tiles like the ones in the game are hard to find in reality. Still, indoor pools and spa facilities at quiet hours can have an atmosphere close to Pools. On LIMap you can find the Spring Park indoor pool at Spa Resort Hawaiians in Iwaki, Fukushima, and Chateraise Gateaux Kingdom Sapporo, which grew out of the former Sapporo Terme.

Overseas, Therme Vals, the spa by Peter Zumthor in the Swiss mountains, and Tropical Islands, a former airship hangar in Germany turned entirely into a tropical resort, are also close to the world of the game. Note, however, that many pool facilities ban or restrict photography. When you visit, follow the facility's rules and never photograph other visitors.

Related spots on LIMap

Spa Resort Hawaiians Spring Park

Chateraise Gateaux Kingdom Sapporo

Therme Vals Stone Baths

Tropical Islands (Former Aerium Airship Hangar)

If You Find One, Put It on the Map

If playing Pools has changed how your local public pool or an old spa looks to you, that may be a sign your eye for liminal spaces is growing.

LIMap is a map for recording those places with photos and locations. If you find one where photography is allowed, please add it.

FAQ

Is Pools scary?

According to its Steam page, it has no monsters and no jump scares. But dark places, cramped places and spaces with no visible exit continue one after another, so there is a fear of getting lost or trapped.

Can I play it in Japanese?

The Steam version is listed as supporting Japanese. Since the game has almost no dialogue or text, only the menus are translated, and you can play it without understanding any language.

Which platforms can I play it on?

PC (Steam, Epic, GOG and itch.io), PC VR, the App Store (iPhone, iPad and Mac), PS5 and PS VR2, and Nintendo Switch. It launched on PC in April 2024, and more platforms followed.