The Backrooms experience vs Poolrooms
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Backrooms experience
Navigate an infinite, terrifying maze filled with lurking entities and unsettling sounds. Your goal is to escape this nightmarish world by hiding from dangers and solving puzzles. Experience true horror as you try to find a way out of the endless, monotone environment.
- Infinite maze exploration
- Entity avoidance and hiding
- Atmospheric horror sound design
- Multiple distinct stages
- Stealth mechanics
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This infinite maze like world can make you insane and no one has ever been able to escape the Backrooms. Can a super average dude escape this maze what they call "The Backrooms". In The Backrooms Experience you go through the true horror people go through when they end up in The Backrooms and are desperate to find a way out! Hide from the so called "Smilers" and try to run from unknown entities that haven' t been discovered yet. Go through many different stages, from the endless maze, with the buzzing sound and yellow monotone colours, to Swimming pools where something is lurking in the water. If you hear anything lurking near you, you better don't make any sound or you will be as good as dead! The mono-yellow, endless background noise of fluorescent lights constantly buzzing, may drive you insane but always watch your back, you don't know what's wandering around!
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.
- Liminal space exploration
- Puzzle-based escape
- High-quality graphics
- Atmospheric sound design
- Interactive environment
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Poolrooms at none against The Backrooms experience's 1. Poolrooms also leads on rating (4.3 vs 3.9) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 16 months). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. The Backrooms experience sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Poolrooms asks for nothing beyond the download.
Poolrooms holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 74 and 78 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of The Backrooms experience's written reviews are positive against 77% of Poolrooms's.
The Backrooms experience ships an update every 16 months, Poolrooms every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Backrooms experience | Poolrooms |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (74 ratings) | 4.3 (78 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews | 77.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 74 | 78 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 16 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 492 MB | 218 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Milan Janssen | JEAN MICKAEL DARIE |
Customer experience
The Backrooms experience
Poolrooms
Bugs and requests
The Backrooms experience
Reported bugs
12 issues- Joystick for turning is bad
- Cannot turn around in some levels
- Smilers in level ! are in the ground
- Joystick on the right is super slow
- Joystick for turning is not sensitive enough
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- Codes not working in poolrooms
- Color code not working in poolrooms
- Entities make the same default sound
- Wallpaper on level 0 looks weird
- Level 0 leads to exit
- Joystick thing for turning
- Cannot get away from smilers when they are in front
Requested features
17 requests- Add more levels
- Add a story line
- Add more monsters
- Improve graphics
- Add a volume off button
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- Add a jump button
- Add randomization
- Make Level ! more challenging with smilers chasing
- Add more monsters in the backrooms
- Make monsters chase you
- Add more levels, like level 188
- Update the 'look around' feature
- Add a sensitivity slider
- Add more monster variety
- Make entities have unique sounds
- Make puzzles clearer (e.g., hospital level cubes)
- Add more variety to levels, avoid repeats
Poolrooms
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Backrooms experience
- Remove ads$0.99
Poolrooms
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Backrooms experience free?
Is Poolrooms free?
Which has better reviews, The Backrooms experience or Poolrooms?
Do The Backrooms experience or Poolrooms have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Backrooms experience or Poolrooms?
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