POOLS™ vs Thirsty Nellan
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
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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.
Thirsty Nellan
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A 3D animated "talkie" adventure! Help Tux the penguin explore an enchanted house in search of four missing treasures. Designed for children, yet fun for grown-ups too. The game includes both English and French versions.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Thirsty Nellan at none against POOLS™'s 1. POOLS™'s advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.5). On price, update cadence and ads 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. Thirsty Nellan asks for nothing beyond the download.
POOLS™ ships an update every 4 weeks, Thirsty Nellan every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | POOLS™ | Thirsty Nellan |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.8K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 80.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.8K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 26.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.9 GB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tensori | Thirsty Nellan Productions |
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)
Thirsty Nellan
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
POOLS™
- POOLS: Full Game$9.99
Thirsty Nellan
No in-app purchases
