I am brand new to the liminal spaces subgenre of gaming, which apparently goes even deeper than that, with “backrooms” and now “pool rooms” style games within the genre. Essentially, these games aim to create psychological tension in spaces normally used for transitions, like hallways or stairwells, or lots of doors. POOLS includes those things, and obviously, pools.
I won’t spoil anything about the game here, but the demo lets you play the first level, which looks like a barren old fitness or recreational pool facility. There are no objective markers, no map, no yellow paint guiding you. It’s just you walking through seemingly unending hallways and rooms, which occasionally are flooded with water, or have an actual pool. There is no music in POOLS, just the sound of your footsteps and splashing through the water. Or so I thought. There were no monsters chasing me, though I could never shake this feeling that something was right behind me. There were no jump scares although I dreaded turning every corner. I was just walking and listening and trying to find the exit of this creepy nightmare fuel space. I was always able to move but never felt like I could get out – until I did.
There’s nothing overtly scary about POOLS, but it’s the most terrified I’ve been playing a video game. Like, ever. I had a quite physical reaction to its unnerving tension that I’ve never felt before. My skin felt like it was crawling, and the room I was sitting in collapsed around me at one point. I felt an immense amount of pressure around my head, like I was underwater, oddly enough. When this happened, I was wading through waste high water in a dark hallway where I could see a light at the end, where I was going, and back at the beginning, where I came from. I had convinced myself that the POOLS boogeyman was going to get me, but the boogeyman never showed.
I was able to finish the demo level, but my apparent panic attack gave me pause to reflect. As a kid, I was often afraid of the dark. My mind would race about all the possible entities that could be lurking, lying in wait to snatch me up. It’s a common fear for kids. That childhood fear was particularly potent after watching scary movies or television shows. Combine that with my adult fear of being in large bodies of water, and I think I had my first-ever panic attack playing POOLS. It preyed on my deepest, darkest fears in the most passive aggressive way possible and it got to me. I will never forget that feeling, or the palpable terror I experienced playing this demo.
So anyway, you should totally play the POOLS demo. It is available now on PC and PlayStation 5. Just, you know, beware of panic attacks.
