Best Bartender vs POOLS™
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Best Bartender
Step into a virtual saloon and become a master bartender. Mix various spirits, liqueurs, and garnishes to create the perfect cocktail. Be mindful of ratios and ingredients to avoid disastrous concoctions.
- Mix various spirits
- Add ice and lemon
- Follow drink ratios
- Choose from a drink shelf
- Experiment with ingredients
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Welcome to Western saloon bar. Do you want become to Bartender ? Help the bartender mix drinks in the right ratios ! Choose from a shelf full of different drinks that range from Vodka, Whiskey, Vermouth, Tripple-Sec, Gin etc. and mix them together for the ultimate drink for a good night out. Add ice or lemon to the drinks to give it that extra kick but be careful, mixing the drinks in the wrong amounts or simply mixing the wrong drinks could end in in the worst of ways! Warning: Drinks may cause more than just a hangover.
POOLS™
This app offers a slow, reflective, and immersive experience focused on exploration and atmosphere. It evokes feelings of unease and curiosity through its unique environments, inspired by liminal spaces and internet phenomena. Discover changing worlds and subtle narratives without traditional gameplay mechanics.
- Slow, reflective exploration
- Atmospheric and immersive environments
- Inspired by liminal spaces
- Unfolding narrative through exploration
- Six distinct chapters
- Unique sound design
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Explore, admire and listen. That’s it. Uncanny. Relaxing. Unnerving. Eerie. Immersive. POOLS isn’t a traditional game. it’s slow, reflective, and intentionally uneventful, perhaps a bit like virtual museum. So take your time. Breathe. POOLS unfolds slowly, rewarding patience and quiet attention. No monsters chasing you or jumping at your screen. Yet it can feel oppressive at times by invoking quiet fears of getting lost, the dark, tight spaces and the strange beauty of liminal space architecture. There's no typical story. But as you explore and advance further, you start to notice that the game's world changes around you, deeper you go… Rooms look and feel… different. Base game features six chapters, each lasting 10-30 minutes. Inspired by the internet phenomena Liminal spaces, Found footage and The Backrooms, especially the Poolrooms concept. One of the original artists behind the Poolrooms concept is Jared Pike.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: POOLS™ at 80% against Best Bartender's 28%. POOLS™ also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.6) and ads (none vs shown). Best Bartender's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#191 vs unranked). On price and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. POOLS™ sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Best Bartender asks for nothing beyond the download.
POOLS™ holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: POOLS™ has 1.7K ratings behind it against 33, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of Best Bartender's written reviews are positive against 80% of POOLS™'s.
Best Bartender ships an update every 32 months, POOLS™ monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Best Bartender | POOLS™ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (33 ratings) | 4.5 (1.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 28.2% of reviews | 79.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 33 | 1.7K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 32 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #191 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 105 MB | 1.9 GB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 9+ |
| Developer | melanie thomas | Tensori |
Customer experience
Best Bartender
POOLS™
Bugs and requests
Best Bartender
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
POOLS™
Reported bugs
2 issues- Unable to move on iPad Pro
- Glitches reported
Requested features
3 requests- Expand to different Backrooms-inspired themes
- Add a multiplayer mode
- Introduce more interactive elements (e.g., monsters, items to discover)
In-app purchases
Best Bartender
No in-app purchases
POOLS™
- POOLS: Full Game$9.99









