POOLS™ vs Lost In Store

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.

You are a child. The store closed at nine. You are still inside. LOST IN STORE is a first-person horror game set in a big-box supermarket after hours, and it is about the thing that shares it with you. THE STORE RUNS ON EMERGENCY POWER Act one is dark. Somewhere across six departments there is a backup generator, and the only way to find it is to listen for its beep. That is also the only way to find what is hunting you. It does not see well in the dark. It hears everything. Walk and you are heard. Crouch and you are slow. STARTING THE GENERATOR IS THE LOUDEST THING YOU WILL EVER DO The lights come up in a wave down the aisles. The muzak comes back on. And for a while afterwards neither of you can hear anything at all — which is why act two is not about noise. It is about sightlines. Cross the lit store to the breaker, throw it, and find the one exit that isn't chained shut. NO MAP. NO MARKERS. NO ARROW. Sound is the entire interface. There is no minimap, no waypoint, nothing on screen telling you where to go. Six departments are shuffled into a new arrangement every night, and the working exit is a different door every night. You will learn what Frozen looks like. You will never learn where it is tonight. HIDING WORKS — THAT IS THE PROBLEM Get inside a freezer or a crawl bay and it cannot see you. Not "probably won't." Cannot. But you are a small child in a cold, dark place, and sooner or later you are going to sneeze. • A 4,436 m² store, built at full scale and generated fresh for every run • Six departments, each with its own lighting, sound and silhouette • 23,748 products on the shelves, all of them actually there • Fifteen languages • No purchases. No account. No internet connection required. The store closes at nine.