Games like POOLS
If POOLS is your kind of game, the closest matches are Dreamcore, Backrooms: The M.E.G. and TAPE GLITCH — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers single out its anxious, atmospheric and dark. Each pick is ranked by what players of this game also play, shared genres and tags, and review-mined similarity — not a generic popularity list.
Get personalized picks →POOLS is a 2024 first-person adventure that drops players into liminal poolrooms blending backrooms aesthetics with dark, mysterious horror. Environmental exploration and lighting effects guide navigation through surreal architectural spaces where environmental storytelling drives the experience forward. Players describe the atmosphere as eerie and hypnotic, noting how immersive ambient soundscapes without music build tension through environmental interaction rather than explicit threats. Reviewers highlight that the game explores fears of getting lost and oppressive spaces through spatial design alone, maintaining a chill difficulty despite its unsettling tone. The 96% positive rating from over 3,100 Steam reviews reflects appreciation for atmospheric psychological horror delivered through navigation and discovery. POOLS runs verified on Steam Deck at $9.79.
About POOLS: 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.
Players who liked POOLS also play
Steam players who put hours into POOLS also tend to own these titles — a signal called collaborative filtering. imho.run cross-references millions of library ownership patterns to surface games whose real audiences overlap, regardless of whether their genre tags match.
Dreamcore
WHY THIS
Shares environmental exploration, environmental storytelling, psychological and an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Top pick for POOLS fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Experience liminal spaces like never before. Dreamcore is the ultimate psychological exploration game, set in the largest liminal world ever made. No guides, no path—only intuition. Will you keep your bearings in a world designed to make you lose them?
Backrooms: The M.E.G.
WHY THIS
Second-strongest match for POOLS fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
You are a MEG explorer seeking to uncover every accessible level and sub-level of the uncanny Backrooms. Atmospheric, captivating, oppressive and eerie locations await you - with no entities. Just you and pure liminality.
TAPE GLITCH
WHY THIS
Third-strongest match for POOLS fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
A first-person psychological horror game where VHS tapes pull you into corrupted memories inside a flooded liminal complex.
Liminalcore
WHY THIS
Shares environmental exploration, exploration, horror and an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Ranked #4 for POOLS fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Explore and admire while navigate through eerie, surreal environments inspired by the Backrooms lore. Explore this uncanny world lost in time and get lost in the otherworldly architecture in a world where reality bends and your sanity is tested.
Obduction
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Ranked #6 for POOLS fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
A new sci-fi adventure from Cyan, the creators of Myst. Abducted far across the universe, you find yourself on a broken alien landscape with odd pieces of Earth. Explore, uncover, solve, and find a way to make it home.
Hotel 188
WHY THIS
Ranked #7 for POOLS fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Dive into a realistic experience of the Backrooms, without jumpscares, getting lost in impossible spaces and feeling like something is watching you. The uncertainty of not knowing where you're going will make you want to quit… Will you be able to make it to the end?
The Backrooms Simulator
WHY THIS
Ranked #8 for POOLS fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries.
Based on the creepypasta. Enter the Backrooms: a realistic walking simulator through millions of monotonous empty hallways.
Reviewers mention these as similar to POOLS
Surfaced from review text: when other players write 'if you liked X, try Y', we catch the name and resolve it back to a Steam game.
The Backrooms
WHY THIS
Reviewers of POOLS cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
You find yourself in a strange world with no idea how you got there. As you explore more, the world gets increasingly convoluted and unstable. You are now in... The Backrooms.
Subliminal
WHY THIS
Shares environmental interaction, environmental storytelling, psychological and an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Reviewers of POOLS cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Subliminal is a psychological horror game inspired by the urban legend of The Backrooms. Bleeding edge lighting and rendering, handcrafted open-ended levels, light and perspective-based puzzles, nostalgic spaces, unfamiliar faces, and a rotting feeling that something is not quite right.
Lucid Blocks
WHY THIS
Shares exploration, liminal spaces and an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Reviewers of POOLS cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Explore, build, and survive in a cryptic expanse oozing with dreamlike oddities and esoteric critters.
Yume Nikki
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Reviewers of POOLS cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
This is a game in which you traverse the extremely dark world inside a dream.
NaissanceE
WHY THIS
Shares environmental exploration and an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Reviewers of POOLS cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
NaissanceE is an obscure and magical first person exploration game, a philosophical trip and an artistic experience. The adventure takes place in a primitive mysterious structure and the game mainly consists to explore and feel the deep and strong ambiance of this atemporal world.
Fatum Betula
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Reviewers of POOLS cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Placed in a world without change, you must create fate by watering an ancient plant. Determine a future and live with it.
Interior Worlds
WHY THIS
Shares environmental exploration and an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Reviewers of POOLS cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Snap your own homemade liminal space photos using a mysterious SLR camera as you explore a variety of empty, strange, and familiar spaces.
Proteus
WHY THIS
Shares exploration and an atmospheric mood with POOLS.
Reviewers of POOLS cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Proteus is a game about exploration and immersion in a dream-like island world where the soundtrack to your play is created by your surroundings. Played in first-person, the primary means of interaction is simply your presence in the world and how you observe it.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below POOLS at current Steam store prices.
POSTAL 2
WHY THIS
Priced ~90% under POOLS on Steam right now. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Live a week in the life of "The POSTAL Dude"; a hapless everyman just trying to check off some chores. Buying milk, returning an overdue library book, getting Gary Coleman's autograph, what could possibly go wrong?
GRIS
WHY THIS
Priced ~62% under POOLS on Steam right now. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality.
The Test
WHY THIS
Priced ~80% under POOLS on Steam right now. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
You will answer a series of questions that will reveal truths from deep within. These questions may make you uncomfortable, but with great knowledge comes great sacrifice. Can you make it all the way through The Test, and if you do, are you sure you want the answers you seek?
LEGO® Star Wars™ - The Complete Saga
WHY THIS
Priced ~49% under POOLS on Steam right now. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Kick Some Brick in I through VI! Play through all six Star Wars movies in one videogame! Adding new characters, new levels, new features and for the first time ever, the chance to build and battle your way through a fun Star Wars galaxy on your PC!
The Room
WHY THIS
Priced ~49% under POOLS on Steam right now. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
A mysterious invitation leads to the attic of an abandoned house. In the room is a cast-iron safe laced with strange carvings and on top, a note from your distant companion. It promises something ancient and astonishing concealed in the iron chamber - you need only find a way in.
Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk
WHY THIS
Priced ~85% under POOLS on Steam right now. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
A short story about what sort of challenges everyday little things can be. Help the girl buy milk, be the first not to disappoint her.
Blood and Bacon
WHY THIS
Priced ~90% under POOLS on Steam right now. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
This Co-op Shooter , has Day and Night levels, multiple maps, players will take on 25 enemy types and numerous bosses, like Gargantuan Monsters and Minibosses every 10 days as you explore, shoot and run for your life against the onslaught of porcine monstrosities.
A Short Hike
WHY THIS
Priced ~59% under POOLS on Steam right now. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Hike, climb, and soar through the peaceful mountainside landscapes of Hawk Peak Provincial Park as you make your way to the summit.
Free alternatives
Free-to-play games that recommended players of this title also tend to enjoy.
Doki Doki Literature Club!
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it.
The Literature Club is full of cute girls! Will you write the way into their heart? This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.
Life is Strange - Episode 1
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Episode 1 now FREE! Life is Strange is an award-winning and critically acclaimed episodic adventure game that allows the player to rewind time and affect the past, present and future.
Ultimate Custom Night
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it.
Welcome to the ultimate FNAF mashup, featuring 50 selectable characters and custom difficulties!
Bongo Cat
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it.
Bongo cat needs your help. Bongo cat needz more hatz!!! Every time you press a key, Bongo cat will punch your taskbar. Type, click, play, work to collect more points. Which hats will you find?
ENA: Dream BBQ
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Experience surreal environments and inexplicable characters as ENA in a new wild world.
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it.
Sonic the Hedgehog...was murdered!? Get to the bottom of the mystery in this brand-new adventure!
Indigo Park: Chapter 1
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Adventure with POOLS.
Explore the abandoned childhood wonder of Indigo Park! Guided by Rambley the Raccoon, help restore power to the destroyed amusement park while you run from the reason it shut down.
Narrow it down
Head-to-head comparisons
Frequently asked about POOLS
- Is POOLS verified for Steam Deck?
- Yes — POOLS is Steam Deck Verified, meaning Valve has confirmed it runs well on the Deck with full controller, text legibility, and default configuration support.
- How much does POOLS cost?
- POOLS is listed on Steam at 9.79 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- What games are most similar to POOLS?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside POOLS are Dreamcore, Backrooms: The M.E.G., TAPE GLITCH.
- Who developed POOLS?
- POOLS was developed by Tensori and published by Tensori, UNIKAT Label.
imho.run ranks Steam game alternatives using a mix of collaborative filtering (ALS / iALS / EASE / LightGCN), content scoring over genres, categories, Steam tags, developers, and publishers, plus AI-extracted vibes mined from review text. The page above is generated in seed mode anchored on POOLS.
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