POOLS™ vs Ultimate Chicken Horse
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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.
Ultimate Chicken Horse
A party platformer where players collaboratively build obstacle courses as they play. Strategically place traps and platforms to reach the finish line before your friends, or hinder their progress to score points. Enjoy online or local multiplayer with a variety of animal characters and creative level design tools.
- Online and local multiplayer for up to 4 players
- Collaborative level building with traps and platforms
- Unique game flow combining strategy and platforming
- 17 diverse levels with unique features
- Build and share custom levels
- Play as various animal characters
- Customizable rule sets and game modes
Read full descriptionHide full description
*NOTICE - TRY BEFORE YOU BUY* - Play the beginning for free. A one-time in-app purchase unlocks the full game. No ads. Ever wish you were a wall-jumping, arrow-dodging, trap-setting horse, besting your animal pals in a race through a peril-laden obstacle course that you all built together? Wish Granted! Ultimate Chicken Horse is a party platformer where you and your friends build the level as you play, placing deadly traps before trying to reach the end of the level. If you can make it but your friends can't, you score points! Play online or locally with your animal buddies and experiment with a wide variety of platforms in all sorts of strange locations to find new ways to mess with your friends. Key Features - Online and local play for up to 4 players - Unique game flow, from strategic block placement to twitch control platforming - 17 levels with different features - Build and share custom levels - Additional Controller Support (please note not all controllers are support at this time) - Compete for global best times on Challenge levels across all platforms - Shared controller mode to play multiplayer with one controller - Huge library of blocks to create an infinite variety of levels - Customizable rule sets and game modes - Play as a chicken, horse, sheep, raccoon and other wonderful animals - Fun, cartoony art style - Sweet funky soundtrack Please note: this is primarily a multiplayer game. Challenge levels can be created and played alone, but unlocking characters and levels requires playing one of the main game modes (like Party Mode) which are only multiplayer.
Screenshots
Verdict
POOLS™ and Ultimate Chicken Horse both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 80% of POOLS™'s written reviews are positive against 50% of Ultimate Chicken Horse's. Ultimate Chicken Horse's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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 and Ultimate Chicken Horse sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for POOLS™ against 4.6 for Ultimate Chicken Horse. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.8K and 1.3K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of POOLS™'s written reviews are positive against 50% of Ultimate Chicken Horse's.
POOLS™ ships an update every 4 weeks, Ultimate Chicken Horse monthly. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.
| Parameter | POOLS™ | Ultimate Chicken Horse |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.8K ratings) | 4.6 (1.3K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.3% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.8K — better | 1.3K |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.9 GB | 825 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Tensori | Noodlecake |
Customer experience
POOLS™
Ultimate Chicken Horse
User reviews
POOLS™
From 1.8K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Ultimate Chicken Horse
From 1.3K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Fun game
- 🚀 Game is enjoyable
Room to improve
- 🐛 Glitchy and crashes
- 🎮 Controls are janky
- 💰 Need to pay for subscription
Bugs and 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)
Ultimate Chicken Horse
Reported bugs
2 issues- Game won't load locally
- Game kicks out when loading
Requested features
3 requests- Add free chat
- Add ability to view scoreboard during game
- Add controller support
In-app purchases
POOLS™
- POOLS: Full Game$9.99
Ultimate Chicken Horse
- Unlock Full Game$1.99
- Unlock Full Game$9.99
Questions
Is POOLS™ free?
Is Ultimate Chicken Horse free?
Which has better reviews, POOLS™ or Ultimate Chicken Horse?
Do POOLS™ or Ultimate Chicken Horse have ads?
Which is updated more often, POOLS™ or Ultimate Chicken Horse?
Other comparisons















