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Venture into the Enigmatic Depths of POOLS: A Liminal Horror Experience

POOLS is a unique exploration game, a digital art gallery of unsettling beauty where sound design takes center stage. Navigate through immersive environments, reminiscent of liminal spaces, with minimal objectives, and discover the haunting allure of the unknown. While not a traditional puzzle game, POOLS may test your spatial reasoning as you traverse its labyrinthine levels, offering a distinctive first-person exploration experience.

A Psychological Horror Experience Unlike Any Other

This isn't your typical jump-scare horror game. POOLS delves into psychological horror, playing on primal fears of getting lost, claustrophobia, and the dread of the dark. Experience true immersion in this walking simulator, where oppressive atmosphere is the silent antagonist. Feel the weight of your surroundings as you navigate the unsettling environments.

Immersive Soundscape and Environmental Storytelling

Forget user interfaces and dialogue. POOLS utilizes a realistic and haunting audio landscape to build suspense. The evolving acoustics—echoes and subtly shifting sounds—react to your environment, enhancing the feeling of actually being there. The slow, deliberate pace of movement through water adds to the tangible tension, making this atmospheric horror game a truly visceral experience.

Unravel the Mysteries of the Ever-Changing World

While devoid of a conventional narrative or explicit exposition, POOLS unfolds through environmental storytelling. Observe subtle shifts in the environment as you progress. Each chapter introduces unique visual and thematic elements, drawing you deeper into the game's unsettling mysteries. Explore unique locations and discover the distinctive secrets hidden within each area in this indie horror game.

Key Features and Inspirations

The base game features six distinct chapters, each designed for approximately 10 to 30 minutes of gameplay. POOLS draws inspiration from the internet phenomenon surrounding Liminal Spaces, the Found Footage genre, and the Backrooms mythos, particularly the unsettling subgenre of Poolrooms pioneered by artists like Jared Pike. We've also found inspiration in the works of Matt Studios' Poolrooms videos (2022), the visual style of Mortain Colors, Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1 by Andrew Quist, and Kane Pixels' "The Backrooms (Found Footage)" series.