Pollen (2015) Board Game – Board Game Guys

Pollen is a card game designed by Alexandre Droit and published by Jeux Opla in in 2015. The game revolves around bees collecting pollen from flowers to create the most valuable honey. With its unique theme and gameplay mechanics, Pollen has gained popularity among board game enthusiasts.

Game Components of Pollen

Garden Cards: Each player has a deck of 15 cards, marked with symbols of bees, beetles, butterflies, and a wild symbol.

Pollinator Tokens: Small cardboard tokens showing one to three insect types.

Scoring Meeples: Wooden meeples representing the different insect types.

Custom Bag: For drawing pollinator tokens.

How To Setup Pollen

To set up the game, each player shuffles their deck of garden cards and draws a hand of five. The pollinator tokens are placed in a custom bag, and one token is drawn face up as the “next up” token. The game area is prepared by placing the initial pollinator token and the players’ starting cards according to the rules.

Gameplay Mechanics and Game Objective

Plant: Players place a garden card from their hand onto the table, ensuring a corner touches at least one pollinator token.

Pollinate: When a pollinator token is surrounded by four garden cards, players score based on the symbols matching the token.

Attract: Players form lines with garden cards to draw and place new pollinator tokens.

End Game and Scoring: The game ends when one type of scoring meeple runs out, all pollinator tokens are placed, or all players have played all their cards. Players score by having the majority in two of the three insect types. If no player achieves this, players without a majority in any category are eliminated, and the remaining players count their non-majority insects to determine the winner.

Player Experience

**Pollen** is a game of tactical depth despite its simple rules. Players must pay close attention to the cards played by their opponents and plan contingencies for their next moves. The game encourages interaction and strategic thinking, making it engaging and dynamic. However, the scoring system can be complex, and the game can become intense as players compete for majority control over the different insect types.

Pros

Deep Strategy: Simple decisions lead to complex consequences.

Interactive: Players must pay attention to opponents’ moves.

Quick to Teach: Easy to learn and start playing.

Tactical Depth: Encourages planning and contingencies.

Cons

Complex Scoring: The win conditions can be confusing, especially in a three-player game.

Expensive: Some reviewers find the game too pricey for its components.

Length: Games with four players can take longer than expected.

Personal Thoughts on Pollen

**Pollen** is ideal for players who enjoy strategic tile-laying games and are looking for a game that requires tactical thinking and interactive gameplay. It is suitable for those who appreciate the works of Reiner Knizia and are willing to engage with a game that has a unique and sometimes complex scoring system. While it is recommended for players aged 11 and up, it may appeal more to adult gamers due to its depth and strategic complexity.

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