Comparison

POOLS™ vs AR Dice

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Slow, reflective exploration
  • Atmospheric and immersive environments
  • Inspired by liminal spaces
  • Unfolding narrative through exploration
  • Six distinct chapters
  • Unique sound design
Features
Read 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.

About

AR Dice

Features
Read full description

Roll real-looking dice — right on your table. AR Dice drops a felt dice tray into your room with augmented reality, or onto a virtual casino table in 3D. Drag the dice up and release: they tumble, bounce off the rim, knock into each other and settle, with true physics and the sound of real dice. ALL THE DICE YOU NEED • d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 and d100 • Up to 40 dice per throw, mixed as you like • A bonus or penalty added to the total • Your own shortcuts: save "2d6 + 3" once, roll it in one tap MADE FOR TABLETOP GAMES • Skill check shortcut (1d20) and a critical-hit button • Natural 20 and natural 1 are celebrated • History of your last throws, with every die detailed • Share a result with your group A REAL TABLE • Augmented reality: the tray sits on your real table, dice cast real shadows, and your hands pass in front of them (on devices with LiDAR) • 3D mode everywhere, even without a camera • Real recorded sounds of dice shaken in the hand and landing on felt • Haptic feedback on every impact Works on iPhone and iPad. PREMIUM A single purchase removes all ads forever. No subscription.

Screenshots

POOLS™4 screens
AR Dice4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: POOLS™ at none against AR Dice's shown. POOLS™ also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). On price and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. POOLS™ sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and AR Dice sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
POOLS™ versus AR Dice: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPOOLS™AR Dice
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.8K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews79.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.8K — better—
Update frequencyMonthly—
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.9 GB7 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperTensoriFranck Geslin

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)

AR Dice

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

POOLS™

One-time1
  • POOLS: Full Game$9.99
1 purchases

AR Dice

One-time1
  • Premium — No ads$8.99

Questions

Is POOLS™ free?
POOLS™ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is AR Dice free?
AR Dice is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do POOLS™ or AR Dice have ads?
AR Dice shows ads; POOLS™ does not.

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