POOLS™ vs Ghost Story School
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
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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.
Ghost Story School
Engage in a simple yet captivating game where you observe illustrations to find hidden anomalies. Tap on anything unusual you discover to progress. It's a straightforward puzzle experience designed for quick play.
- Simple tap controls
- Illustration-based puzzles
- Spot the difference gameplay
- Quick play sessions
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What’s Going On There? ▽ Simple Controls ・Look at the illustration and find anything strange. ・Once you spot it, tap right away!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ghost Story School at none against POOLS™'s 1. Ghost Story School also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and update cadence (daily vs monthly). POOLS™'s advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (1.8K vs 1). 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. Ghost Story School asks for nothing beyond the download.
Ghost Story School holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: POOLS™ has 1.8K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
POOLS™ ships an update monthly, Ghost Story School daily. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | POOLS™ | Ghost Story School |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.8K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.8K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Daily — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.9 GB | 386 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Tensori | Puffything Games Inc. |
Customer experience
POOLS™
Ghost Story School
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)
Ghost Story School
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
POOLS™
- POOLS: Full Game$9.99
Ghost Story School
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is POOLS™ free?
Is Ghost Story School free?
Which has better reviews, POOLS™ or Ghost Story School?
Do POOLS™ or Ghost Story School have ads?
Which is updated more often, POOLS™ or Ghost Story School?
Other comparisons
