# Backrooms vs Poolrooms

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.

Both are free to download. Backrooms sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Poolrooms asks for nothing beyond the download.

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.

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

## The numbers

| Metric | Backrooms | Poolrooms |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.4 (481 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/backrooms-coop-explore/id1626453047/reviews) | **[4.4 (76 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/poolrooms-the-hidden-exit/id6739496557/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **481** | 76 |
| Positive reviews | 70.2% of reviews | **77.1% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | Weekly | **Every 2 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Ad-supported** |
| Size | 348 MB | 218 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [IndieFist SRL](https://appshunter.io/developer/1458549407) | [JEAN MICKAEL DARIE](https://appshunter.io/developer/1785644362) |

## What reviewers say

### Backrooms

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/backrooms-coop-explore/id1626453047)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Remove Ads | $2.99 | one-time |
| Unlock Mark | $3.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Very fun game
- 🚀 Nicely done, looks realistic
- 🚀 Great game, captures the feel of the Backrooms

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Confusing, weird monster sounds
- 🐛 Multiplayer not working, no people to play with
- 🔋 Too many ads, ads every 15 seconds
- 🐛 Can't save progress, have to restart from beginning
- 🐛 Glitches, game freezes or crashes

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/poolrooms-the-hidden-exit/id6739496557)

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked 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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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*