Comparison

Backrooms Descent vs POOLS™

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Backrooms Descent

Explore a terrifying dimension of infinite maze-like constructs. Survive monsters and deadly traps as you search for a way out. This stealth-focused horror game challenges you to use your wits and collected items to escape the darkness and return home.

Highlights
  • Explore multiple backrooms levels
  • Stealth-based gameplay
  • Survive monsters and traps
  • Collect useful items
  • Solve puzzles to escape
  • Immersive horror atmosphere
Features
Read full description

If you are not careful enough, you may end up in that place, the place some call The Backrooms. The Backrooms of existence, a hellish dimension of infinite maze-like constructs, each level pushing deeper into the despair. Could you, a normal person find the way out? Dive deeper into the horror of the backrooms as you descend into fear. in this horror game, explore through the multiple levels of the Backrooms, maybe the only way out is to descend until it's the deepest level as you survive its monsters and deadly traps. In the real world, you have a family waiting for you, keep this as motivation to face horror, move forward and try to reach the end, for it may be the only way to escape. This scary adventure will keep your heart beating fast as the uneasy loneliness of these walls screams. The backrooms is a horror game that focuses on stealth, trying to hide from enemies if you hear them, as they may have already heard you. How many corridors are there? or even How many levels exist in the backrooms? This Horror game will get you lost inside a room as a dreadful feeling dominates you. This scary journey horror survival game is not for the weak, infinite maze-like corridors that scream as you adventure through them. Collect items to help you on your journey, do not waste them for no reason as they are scarce in the horror mazes of the backrooms. How many corridors are there? This creepypasta game will get you lost inside a room as a dreadful feeling dominates you. This scary journey horror survival game is not for the weak, infinite maze-like corridors that scream as you adventure through them. As they descend further into darkness, you'll explore various levels of the Backrooms. Use your mind to find the only way out of each level, looting for items in a survival-like experience. Keep your eyes open for danger, traps may be around the place, and each one could mean your end in the most evil ways possible. Be guided by hope as you avoid despair, you must return home, no matter what needs to be done, so keep your eyes open. As someone once said: If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the Backrooms, where it's nothing but the stink of old moist carpet and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in. A dangerous place, the horror awaits in the dark, keep your hopes up and keep going.

About

POOLS™

Explore, admire, and listen in this slow, reflective experience. It's an intentionally uneventful journey through uncanny and eerie environments, rewarding patience and quiet attention. Discover a world that subtly changes as you advance, inspired by internet phenomena like liminal spaces and The Backrooms.

Highlights
  • Exploration-focused gameplay
  • Relaxing and reflective atmosphere
  • Eerie and uncanny environments
  • Slow-paced, uneventful experience
  • World changes as you advance
  • Six chapters, 10-30 minutes each
Features
Read full description

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

Backrooms Descent4 screens
POOLS™4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: POOLS™ at none against Backrooms Descent's shown. POOLS™ also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 64%) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). Backrooms Descent's advantage is ratings volume (6.5K vs 1.8K). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Backrooms Descent sells 9 one-off in-app purchases and POOLS™ sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Backrooms Descent against 4.5 for POOLS™. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6.5K and 1.8K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 64% of Backrooms Descent's written reviews are positive against 80% of POOLS™'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Backrooms Descent ships an update every 2 months, POOLS™ every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Backrooms Descent versus POOLS™: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBackrooms DescentPOOLS™
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (6.5K ratings)4.5 (1.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.7% of reviews80.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6.5K — better1.8K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size284 MB1.9 GB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperPedro CrispimTensori

Customer experience

Backrooms Descent

All ratings6,316 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral5.0%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews432 reviews
Positive63.7%
Neutral7.6%
Negative28.7%

POOLS™

All ratings1,795 ratings
Positive88.0%
Neutral3.2%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews672 reviews
Positive80.2%
Neutral6.1%
Negative13.7%

User reviews

Backrooms Descent

From 6.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Exhilarating gameplay
  • 💡 Progress saves
  • 👍 Detailed levels
  • 👍 Encompasses popular Backrooms levels
  • 👍 Saves on every level

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Ads interrupt gameplay
  • 🐛 Ads every 1 minute
  • 🐛 Inventory size too small
  • 🐛 Flashlight battery drains quickly
  • 🐛 No continue/save feature

POOLS™

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Immersive experience
  • 🔒 No ads
  • 👍 Incredible attention to detail
  • 👍 Realistic graphics and sound
  • 👍 Eerie and creepy atmosphere

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Boring after a while
  • 🐛 Lack of variety in environments

Bugs and requests

Backrooms Descent

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Entities can kill player in hub/level fun
  • Ads block start button
  • Purchased items/upgrades disappear
  • Progress resets when app is closed

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add more levels and entities
  • Implement save/continue feature
  • Reduce ads or make them less intrusive
  • Improve flashlight battery life
  • Expand inventory size
Show 2 more
  • Add combat/weapons against entities
  • Implement multiplayer mode

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

9 purchases

Backrooms Descent

One-time9
  • Extra Battery Rune2 variants$1.99
  • Extra Speed Rune$1.99
  • Tiny of Gold$1.99
Show 6 more
  • Tiny of Gems$1.99
  • Welcome Pack$3.99
  • Fistful of Gold$4.99
  • Fistful of Gem$4.99
  • Remove Ads$6.99
  • Pouch of Gold$9.99
1 purchases

POOLS™

One-time1
  • POOLS: Full Game$9.99

Questions

Is Backrooms Descent free?
Backrooms Descent is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is POOLS™ free?
POOLS™ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Backrooms Descent or POOLS™?
POOLS™ is rated higher. Backrooms Descent averages 4.5 out of 5 from 6.5K ratings, while POOLS™ averages 4.5 from 1.8K ratings.
Do Backrooms Descent or POOLS™ have ads?
Backrooms Descent shows ads; POOLS™ does not.
Which is updated more often, Backrooms Descent or POOLS™?
Backrooms Descent ships an update every 2 months, and POOLS™ every 4 weeks. Most recently, Backrooms Descent was updated on November 7, 2026 and POOLS™ on November 7, 2026.

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