Past For Future vs POOLS™

A man struggling to accept his current life and time discovers the story of a brilliant and eccentric woman who was able to travel through time to escape her present unhappiness. As a player you travel to the beautiful coastal town of Taranto to uncover her real tragic story, track her down through time and maybe escape your own present. This is a game about escaping an unhappy present and romanticising the past. Past For Future has been produced by the National Archaelogical Museum of Taranto (MArTA).

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.