Best pool games

The player count is the decision. A net game needs a side, and a side needs at least two people, so pool volleyball only really works with four or more in the water. A hoop is the opposite: one child can shoot at it alone for an hour, and it gets crowded at four.

Pool shape is the second filter. A net has to span the pool, so it needs somewhere to stand on both sides at the width you want to play. GoSports states its net suits lap, rounded and rectangular inground pools up to a 25-foot span. A floating hoop needs none of that, which makes it the only one of the two we would buy for an above-ground pool without measuring first.

1. Verified in stock at the maker. Checked before writing, not assumed. Pool game ranges turn over every summer, and a pick that is out of stock by June is no pick at all.
2. Complete in the box. A pool game that needs you to source a ball or a pump separately is a pool game that sits in the garage. Both picks publish the balls and the pump as included.
3. No drilling. Water-weighted bases or a floating design. Anything that clamps to or bolts through the coping is a pool repair waiting to happen.
4. Honest about what is not published. Neither maker publishes a net height or a rim size. We say so, on the page, rather than guessing.

We have not played with either of these. Every figure here is the maker's.

Pool volleyball is the best group pool game there is, and it is a different game from the lawn version. The water slows everyone down, a ball that drops is not a diving injury, and a rally lasts longer because nobody can move fast enough to spike properly. That makes it genuinely playable by mixed ages in a way backyard volleyball on grass is not.

The GoSports Splash Net Pro publishes three things worth knowing: a maximum span of 25 feet, adjustable straps so an irregular pool still works, and water-weighted bases. Water weighting is the right design for a pool deck — the bases are light to carry empty, heavy when filled, and they leave nothing behind when you take them away.

What it does not publish is how tall the net stands. That matters: a pool net is played from water that may be chest-deep at one end and waist-deep at the other, and a single net height suits neither perfectly.

A floating hoop is the simplest pool game there is and the one children use most. It needs no setup beyond inflation and assembly, it goes wherever the swimmers are, and a child can play it alone.

The trade is that a floating target moves. Every ball that hits the rim pushes the hoop away, and within ten minutes it has drifted to the far corner. That is a feature for a young swimmer — a hoop that gives is forgiving — and a frustration for a teenager who wants to shoot properly. GoSports sells poolside hoops that stand on the deck for that buyer; we have not verified one here.

Chlorine and sun are the enemy

Neither maker publishes a material or a UV rating. Treat both as seasonal: rinse in fresh water after use, dry out of direct sun, and store them indoors over winter. The general version of this advice is in winterizing yard games.

Pool rules still apply

A game in the pool is still swimming. Somebody watches, the net comes out when the game ends, and nobody dives for a ball in shallow water. A pool volleyball net left spanning the water is a hazard to a swimmer who does not see it.

Pair it with something on dry land

A pool party always has people who are not swimming. The dry-land half of the party is where the rest of this site comes in — the games that suit a hot afternoon are in yard games in hot weather, and the games that do not mind getting splashed are in games that play wet.