Finnish dev Tensori's POOLS (sorry, POOLS) is a self-proclaimed walking sim with uncanny vibes. It launched back in 2024 on Steam and has racked up nearly 3000 user reviews in the time since, leaving it in the rarified "Overwhelmingly Positive" range on Valve's platform, and it's coming to Switch on 26th February.
As you can see from the trailer above — running native Switch footage, we're told — it looks pleasingly minimal and rather lovely, but don't go in expecting pure cosy vibes, or much else, for that matter, because the list of things this "liminal fever dream" doesn't feature is sizeable.
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According to the official blurb, there's "no user-interface", "no dialogue", "no background music", "no typical story", "no characters to meet", no "notes" to find, "no hand-holding", and "no monsters chasing you or jumping suddenly towards you".
One for the misanthropes, perhaps? If you've had your fill of online chat and pings and squads and cosy character dialogue, a couple of hours' jaunt to your local '70s swimming complex — inexplicably and unsettlingly empty and pristine — sounds like just the ticket. And given the enormous number of monsters likely to be chasing and/or jumping suddenly towards you on just one day later on Switch 2 (courtesy of Capcom), a little genuine alone time sounds great.
For everything it doesn't have, Pools apparently contains atmosphere by the bucketload, using diegetic audio to ramp up the tension in these white-tiled, maze-like spaces where something's not quite right. This Switch (1) version includes the full OG game plus the "Chapter 0" free expansion, as well.
Here are a few more details and some docked Switch screens:
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.
POOLS is inspired by internet phenomenons "Liminal spaces", "Found footage" and "Backrooms" - specifically "Backrooms Pools" or "Poolrooms".
There'll be a demo available on launch day if you're not convinced by all this liminal stuff. The full game will set you back $9.79 / £8.50 / 9,75€ or your regional equivalent.
Our friends over at Push Square reviewed the PSVR2 version, awarding it an 8/10 and saying that "while it’s a short-lived experience, it’s one we couldn’t help but admire. It certainly caters to a niche audience, but it quickly creates a unique and tense atmosphere that plays with your head." We'll find out how Switch handles it soon enough.