Escape SBS vs POOLS™
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Escape SBS
Read full descriptionHide full description
Escape from the room step by step
POOLS™
This app offers a slow, reflective, and immersive experience focused on exploration and atmosphere. It evokes feelings of unease and curiosity through its unique environments, inspired by liminal spaces and internet phenomena. Discover changing worlds and subtle narratives without traditional gameplay mechanics.
- Slow, reflective exploration
- Atmospheric and immersive environments
- Inspired by liminal spaces
- Unfolding narrative through exploration
- Six distinct chapters
- Unique sound design
Read full descriptionHide 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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Escape SBS at none against POOLS™'s 1. Escape SBS also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). POOLS™'s advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price 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. POOLS™ sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Escape SBS asks for nothing beyond the download.
Escape SBS ships an update every 5 days, POOLS™ every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Escape SBS | POOLS™ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.5 (1.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 79.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 220 MB | 1.9 GB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | 卷文 唐 | Tensori |
Bugs and requests
Escape SBS
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
Escape SBS
No in-app purchases
POOLS™
- POOLS: Full Game$9.99
