Comparison

Backrooms vs Poolrooms

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

Head to head
About

Backrooms

Navigate an endless maze of empty rooms in this survival horror game inspired by a popular creepypasta. Avoid terrifying entities, use items to your advantage, and stealthily find your way back home from this nightmarish dimension.

Highlights
  • Endless maze exploration
  • Scary levels with difficulties
  • Creepy monsters and entities
  • Survival horror gameplay
  • Stealth mechanics
  • Items to aid escape
Features
Read full description

NEW: FORTUNE WHEEL Spin every day for prizes: characters, batteries, almond milk and the new royal jelly. 19 NEW CHARACTERS Only obtainable from the wheel. NEW MECHANICS · Smilers flee from light — hold your flashlight on them. · Crouch and the PartyGoers won't see you. · Find the notes scattered around: they tell you how to survive. ALSO · New elevator puzzle. · You can now hear your teammates' footsteps. · Improved enemy AI and stability fixes.

About

Poolrooms

Explore a surreal, water-filled liminal space with tiled walls and floors. Your goal is to find hidden buttons to unlock doors and escape this unsettling environment. Immerse yourself in high-quality graphics and atmospheric sound design.

Highlights
  • Liminal space exploration
  • Puzzle-based escape
  • High-quality graphics
  • Atmospheric sound design
  • Interactive environment
Read full description

Explore the Poolrooms: Wander through vast areas with ankle-deep water, surrounded by white ceramic tiles covering the walls, floors, and ceilings. Find the Exit: As the lone explorer, your mission is to escape this unsettling environment. Scattered throughout the level are buttons that, when activated, open various doors leading you closer to freedom. Can you find your way out? High-Quality Graphics: Experience the Poolrooms like never before with our high-quality graphics that bring this liminal space to life. Every detail, from the reflection of water on the tiles to the eerie silence, is designed to create an immersive experience that will captivate your senses. Immersive Experience: Lose yourself in the atmosphere of the Poolrooms. The game's sound design and visual effects work together to create a deeply immersive experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat as you explore and seek escape. Can you escape the Poolrooms? Embark on an unforgettable journey through one of the most mysterious levels of the Backrooms. ------------------------- Features: - Liminal Space Exploration: Navigate the surreal and eerie Poolrooms, a unique level of the Backrooms. - Challenging Puzzles: Activate buttons to unlock doors and find your way to the exit. - Stunning Graphics: Enjoy high-quality visuals that enhance the immersive experience. - Atmospheric Soundtrack: The ambient soundscape adds to the sense of mystery and suspense.

Screenshots

Backrooms4 screens
Poolrooms4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Poolrooms at none against Backrooms's 2. Poolrooms also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Backrooms's advantage is ratings volume (481 vs 76). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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 sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Poolrooms asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Backrooms against 4.4 for Poolrooms. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backrooms has 481 ratings behind it against 76, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Backrooms's written reviews are positive against 77% of Poolrooms's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Backrooms ships an update weekly, Poolrooms every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Backrooms versus Poolrooms: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBackroomsPoolrooms
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (481 ratings)4.4 (76 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.2% of reviews77.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings481 — better76
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size348 MB218 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperIndieFist SRLJEAN MICKAEL DARIE

Customer experience

Backrooms

All ratings478 ratings
Positive82.6%
Neutral6.3%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews104 reviews
Positive70.2%
Neutral12.5%
Negative17.3%

Poolrooms

All ratings75 ratings
Positive85.3%
Neutral5.3%
Negative9.3%
Written reviews109 reviews
Positive77.1%
Neutral14.7%
Negative8.3%

Bugs and requests

Backrooms

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Can't get past the party level, game is rigged
  • Can't use the flashlight, don't know where it is
  • Can't enter codes correctly, door won't open
  • Game restarts from the beginning when exiting

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more levels, levels are too short
  • Add a peaceful mode with no entities
  • Improve audio and graphics
  • Add more Backrooms monsters and entities
  • Implement a save feature to continue progress

Poolrooms

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Backrooms

One-time2
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • Unlock Mark$3.99
None

Poolrooms

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Backrooms free?
Backrooms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Poolrooms free?
Poolrooms is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Backrooms or Poolrooms?
Poolrooms is rated higher. Backrooms averages 4.4 out of 5 from 481 ratings, while Poolrooms averages 4.4 from 76 ratings.
Do Backrooms or Poolrooms have ads?
Both Backrooms and Poolrooms show ads.
Which is updated more often, Backrooms or Poolrooms?
Backrooms ships an update weekly, and Poolrooms every 2 days. Most recently, Backrooms was updated on October 24, 2026 and Poolrooms on October 25, 2026.

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