POOLS
A downloadable game for Windows
Note: This is a demo; the full game will be released later. The full game will not be free, but the price will be fair.
One could say POOLS is like an art gallery where you look around and listen to the sounds. There are very few things to solve, practically a few mazes. Sometimes the game can challenge your navigation skills. But mostly you're just... there.
Note: There are no monsters chasing you or jumping suddenly towards you, but the game can feel oppressive. POOLS plays on fears of getting lost, the dark, and tight spaces.
The game has no user-interface and no dialogue. No background music. Instead, the game uses sounds to make you feel like you're really there. The sounds and echo change depending on the room you're in. Walking in water is slower. All of these things makes the game feel more real and creates a tense atmosphere.
There's no typical story, no characters to meet, and you won't find any notes in game. But as you explore and advance further, you start to notice that the game's world changes around you. Rooms look and feel different. Each chapter has something unique. Constantly you're exploring new places, each with its own kind of mystery.
Download demo
Development log
- Patch notes64 days ago
- Patch notes70 days ago
- Patch notes71 days ago
- Devlog 274 days ago
- Devlog 174 days ago
Comments
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Will the PS5 be on the shelves? Looking forward to it!
Amazing demo. Small problem - the "ladder animation" in the maze only triggered when I got close enough to see that the arms had no body. Probably a glitch.
Thanks! also thanks for reporting - we will fix that.
Great spatial design! The geometry of the cylinder & rectangles & occasional curves work really well together, and the mix of different types of spaces were really impressive. I worked on a similar project that required a lot of modeling/spatial design and it was a pain to iterate on these things...so I really appreciate the work. What modeling software did you use for the environment?
Thank you! We use Blender for modelling.
WOW! The game looks very amaizing, i can say that as a beginner unity developer. I saw the finnish names (in credits) so is this game made in Finland? It would be nice to hear, because i'm finn too*
edit: Oh god,i played this like 15 mins and i'm hearing sounds everywhere... This proves that you can make horror without jumpascares and monsters
Thanks! Indeed the game is made in Finland - Torilla tavataan! :D
( we also have couple of fans helping us from all over the world )
Excellent sliding pump pump action
Thanks for sharing! Happy sliding :D
:D
this game had me uncomfortable the entire time
Thank you for playing! I hope it was good kind of uncomfortable :D
need full game! the dark tunnels freaked me out so much and had me on edge the entire time, lol
Thank you for playing! We are releasing POOLS in about two weeks - on 26th April!
oh, awesome! i'll be on the look out. can't wait!!
Very lovely experience! I like that it has a lot settings options. And a scary duck 👍👍👍 Pity I can't crawl up the slides, that would be the first thing to do at a pool with no guards to stop you
Thank you! Slides are slippery :D No but honestly it's just that we have limited time and so many cool things to do, but perhaps we'll add it at some point. no promises. Great idea though!
I think you had a MacOS port of the demo, but now seems to be gone... do you still plan to do the final release for Mac? I really hope so!
Problem with MacOS build at the moment is that Apple requires signing of the app (verification) to make it safe to install. This is a security feature from Apple.
We need to have Apple Developer account to do the singing. For Apple Developer account we need $100 and a DUNS number. DUNS number needs to have an office, and currently we don't have one.
Technically building the Mac app is very easy for us, but right now it becomes "unverified" and caused installation problems. This is why I removed it.
I personally have both Windows and Mac, and in fact I'm using Mac to develop the game. I play the game on it all the time so it's definitely possible. Currently we are doing this game on our free time, but if game has any kind of commercial success and we can continue development full-time, then I will do official mac build quickly post launch. I would like to have Windows, Mac and Linux support, and additionally some game consoles as well.
if you have a mac, I can build a special version for you and instructions on how to play.
For official distribution I don't want to have version that warns user about potential virus / needs special configuration to play. For that we need to get the official verification.
So if you are interested please contact us at support (at) tensori.fi after the game is released.
BR. Antti
Thanks a lot for the clarification. I understand, I'm also a developer (not games, but engineering and art) and I use Macs for development, even if my code also builds and runs on Windows and Linux. I don't have an Apple Developer account either, but I don't need it for the moment. Yes, I will buy the game when it's released, and I'll contact you to see if it's possible to get an executable running on the Mac. Thanks a lot!
Nice game brother, this is the first time a demo game has been seen so well, I wish you continued success and I shot a video, nice game!!
Thank you for playing, and thanks for the video!
This was really good demo game 10/10 i played this on steam and it is on my wishlist I definitely playing full version when is release well done keep it up!
Thank you for your kind words! We'll try very hard to exceed your expectations!
super cool, it even runs on my 2GB GTX950 old PC. I am not sure what rendering pipeline are you using, URP or HDRP?
Thanks! It's HDRP but we have tried to find a good sweet spot with performance and looks. Performance matters to us!
This is exactly what I was hoping for when I installed the game, it was so relaxing just wandering through the water and corridors over and over. Beautiful setting that makes it looks like I'm really there, and such a hypnotic atmosphere. It's so nice to get one of these games without any creatures or hints of something chasing you, just you and the pools. Very excited to see the other levels.
Thank you for your kind words!
Hey guys, I really loved your game, this was REALLY good and highly graphically impressive, I can't wait for the full game and I would love to play again on the channel. Keep up the great work. 9.5/10
Thank you for your kind words!
I apologise the video is not available anymore, I had issues with it after uploading and I lost the video as i delete everything once done with them, apologies once again but will do the full game when it releases :D
ah ok! please do!!
will do just update me when you can :D
This was really good! Graphics looked amazing and exploring this was fun! Made a video on it.
Thank you!
I wanted to explore some liminal spaces, esp infinite pools and this is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!
Thank you!
good looking game :)
thanks!