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When I think of pools, I imagine removing ladders in The Sims, but I know some people who have weird dreams about wandering around unfamiliar places full of these potential death traps. For them, POOLS might be a perfect manifestation of these strange visions as this game allows you to basically visit the Backrooms but with pools.
The Backrooms is a maze of empty rooms that can be entered by "noclipping out of reality", an eery place that makes you (me) think something horrible must have happened there.
Image credit: Tensori
The Backrooms are usually associated with horror games, which became surprisingly popular at some point. However, POOLS doesn't need you to run away from monsters, it's more of a walking simulator that sometimes makes you feel uneasy.
POOLS developer Tensori describes it as an experimental game, born as a hobby project: it's "like an art gallery where you walk around and feel the atmosphere."
Image credit: Tensori
This experimental approach probably comes from the head of Tensori Antti Järvinen's views on the industry. He believes many developers don't take enough risks and could use some bravery.
"I hope for a gaming industry that's less cautious and embraces boldness," said Järvinen (via PC Gamer). "As an enthusiast, it seems to me that a number of modern games are 'lost potential'—they lack distinctiveness and genuine passion. I also don't like sneaky ways of making money or broken, unfinished games."
Image credit: Tensori
You might be surprised to read it considering POOLS is not much different from other games in the genre. Moreover, as some players noted, it looks a lot like Dreamcore, a body-cam-style psychological horror game by Montraluz featuring the same concept of pools with the liminal spaces aesthetic. When asked about the game's own distinctness, Järvinen said he was mostly talking about AAA production: "Many AAA games have cool and sometimes unique ideas, but they execute them overly cautiously and without passion."
Image credit: Tensori
It's hard to disagree with Järvinen on this: just think how many sequels with barely anything new we see every year. The skill of thinking out of the box would be handy for everyone in the industry, though.
If you're interested in what POOLS has to offer, wishlist it on Steam. Find the original article here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
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