This is a special experience, described as psychological horror, but it feels more like a dark-ish maze and walking sim. That's not a bad thing, and the isolation tends to get under your skin after a while. It's repetitive, but also eerily beautiful.
Screenshot from inside the game - water quality is great
Yes, you can try the slide - if you can find the way in 😉
Note that bloom effects are working in VR - that is why the lamps look so intense for the lighting
Ratings are sky-high, as 95% of Steam ratings are positive, and 97% of the most recent ratings are positive, thus very high Steam ratings. Find the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2663530/POOLS/
Not to spoil anything, but you're not completely alone in the game, and I'm not considering this statue to be a npc 😉
If you are afraid of heights, this location may trigger some fear response - at least it did affect me 🙂
The game is demanding, but DLSS and FSR are supported. Using an RTX 3090, I ended up using Index res 250% in 80 Hz with motion smoothing enabled - and in-game using highest settings with DLSS Balanced. But FSR 1.0 with TAA and 80% sharpening looked great too.
I wonder who placed those chairs there... 🤔 and how many tiles there are on all the walls in the game... 🤔
There are big locations...
You'll find plenty of fun things in the game - to make you smile - it's not all darkness and saddening isolation 🙂
Does feel like a 9/10 VR experience, also considering the low price of about $10 - and until 13 June 2025 you can get the game for just $8.
Note how the light is reflected by the water .... This is both a dark and wonderful place to explore.
My journey has continued - I did get to see some fun water slides:
I saw some nice environments:
The devs seem fond of toilets 🤔 Then again who isn't when you need them? 🤗
I also found some slightly weird ... stuff:
Most of all I enjoyed the sculptures, although the feeling of despair did occur to me...
A few more impressions - I mostly consider this an awesome modern art experience:
A slightly weird game of chess - but nonetheless very impressive
Found and petted a sheep - I guess that's kinda normal? 🤗 But it was in a strange location 🤔
More water - and some darkness 😎
Some help if lost 🙂
Not really sure what this is ... But it is what it is 🤗
Ladder to nowhere - or some place really close to nowhere? 🤔
Mannequin production hall I guess...
Pools VR probably is the very best art experience I've had in VR - and that says a lot 🤓
I've finished Pools VR - at least for the first time, the levels are vast and I'm sure I've not seen it all.
Here are a few shots to remember the game - and showing some more details for those who have still not bought one of the greatest VR experiences ever - and one of the most inexpensive too:
Maybe a boring image, but note the nice high-res textures
Normally your hand looks simple, but note the surface complexity when shown in bright light, where you can see many skin details
You do get out - and there are still pools 🙂
Looks like a scene of out Half-Life, but I'm not telling more...
3D effects and high poly count on the wavy floor
The water looked great here - also the transparency, note the small floor tiles
The game will test your sense of balance and VR legs - as the room is tilted, I did feel some nausea - and I almost never do that
A giant alien world-eating/transforming spider is there - but again, you need to experience this yourself to find out, why this really is a game worth a 95% rating. Or 10/10. For the price of 8 bucks, sure this is a 10/10 VR experience
The end of the beginning - you need to complete the game to truly know what this means
Pools feels like made for VR - 2D can never do this game justice. Furthermore if you want to experience the full power of VR, Pools VR is a must-play. Sure, having completed Alyx, you may have some idea of the very best VR experiences, but do add Pools VR for completeness 🤓
Steam says I completed Pools VR in 3.1 hours, but not sure that's correct - felt more like about 5 hours, and the replay value is high.
