Pollen Review: Intense Garden Warfare

[@jameswoodard4304]

Fun facts: Butterflies and hummingbirds were thought to be the souls of deceased warriors in Aztec mythology. Also, the Japanese traditionally view flower arranging as a martial art suited to the warrior ethos. So yeah, "bloodthirsty tactical struggle in the quiet flower garden" kinda works in a way. Though, maybe they should point it out on the box somewhere.

[@SarahHadley162]

No disrespect to Wendy, who seems like a very nice person, but I'm rapidly learning she and I like diametrically opposed games. I think what she's looking for is a game that is strategic, whereas I am often happiest with a game that is tactical. I bought Pollen on the basis of this review and I'm really enjoying it!

[@dandurkin9735]

I sorely missed Mike on this review. Knizia's games are interactive and in the current world of hobby-gaming, where multiplayer solitaires dominate, this interaction is mischaracterized as "cutthroat". As for Tom's lack of stress, to quote Knizia: "When playing a game, the goal is to win, but it is the goal that is important, not the winning." It helps to care. Chris came closest to understanding the beauty of Samurai/Pollen's win conditions - letting an opponent fall too heavily into collecting one category is an option (a strategy). Looks like a nice production. Apparently, you are attracting pollinators to your personal garden.

[@dandurkin9735]

Is Tom placing pollinator tokens incorrectly? At 4:25, both tiles are green's, and later at 4:38, the two openings have all pink. From rules: "If there is an empty pollinator token spot adjacent to at least two garden cards from different players, fill in the empty spot with the “next up” token." Thank you

[@douglasfisher1714]

He does it wrong. As you said, needs to be at least 2 players' cards. The book even has a picture example.

[@jasondunham5780]

If I'm going to get destroyed, I want to do it surrounded by flowers and insects. "Bees! Bees! Bees in the car! Bees everywhere! God, they're huge! They're ripping my flesh off! Run away, your firearms are useless against them!"

[@mcstabba]

In the immortal words of Nicolas Cage: NO! NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES!

[@jameswoodard4304]

​@@mcstabba , Dangit! You beat me to it! You win the internet points.

[@IronSalamander8]

I love the Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare games! That's part of why I watched the video! XD

[@aaronmoore54]

C’mon Tom, bee-ples!

[@cay6857]

The game is gorgeous. Thank you for a great review. Can the scoring be modified in some way?

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

You can always make up your own house rules. The Rules Police aren’t going to come to game night unless you invite them.

[@cay6857]

@@Poiuytrew.Q , I’m brand new to this hobby. I thought someone who’s played it might have a suggestion. Thank you.

[@jameswoodard4304]

​@Cay , I haven't played this, but I bet you could "house-rules" the scoring easily. I would also be interested in someone who has played it answering this.

[@ChunKyPiglets_Pro]

@@jameswoodard4304 they are only just fulfilling this from allplay's Fall '22 Kickstarter, so probably wait a week or so

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

Well off the top of my head: 1) each token is worth 1 point. Winner is person with most tokens. 2) before the start of the game, you can pull pull out 3 tokens and rank whatever insect comes out ie bee = 3 points, butterfly = 2 points, beetle = 1 point. 3) using the original scoring, for breaking ties you can tally who wins using stars. The person with the least tally marks wins ties. 4) you could even add in scoring for contiguous tiles - each player counts up the largest group of tiles in their own color and add that to their score. *I 100% did not play test anything, but you can do whatever you want. Even kids make up rules in the school yard (do kids play outside anymore?) and sometimes even adults who are politicians.

[@guandjs]

I am sure I would feel the same stress as Wendy and not want to play it again! Thanks for the good review with different perspectives.

[@terry3733H]

😂 so this is "arboretum garden"? zen looking war game 😅 🤣

[@CharlesCom-bd2qb]

What I find weird is that the went with cute bee and butterfly but the scarab awfully look like the japenese beetle wich is pest since its an invasive species awfully hard to get rid of in north america

[@lizmari7042]

I think it looks more like a Tansy beetle, but I'm sure they didn't intend a specific species. I think it's cool they included a beetle, since they are important but underappreciated pollinators. 😊

[@CharlesCom-bd2qb]

@@lizmari7042 Oh I liked this take better ! definitely gonna look into that.

[@douglasfisher1714]

@@lizmari7042 It's a June bug, which is similar in appearance to a Japenese beetle, but bigger, and green.

[@lizmari7042]

@@douglasfisher1714 I looked at the June bug, but the margin on June bugs is orange, so I was thinking it must be something else, but then again, with common names, "June bug" may encompass several species. In any case, I'm happy to see a beetle in the game. 🙂

[@mammmaroach8971]

Actually, it is an Rose Beetle which were very often some years ago in Germany... but they become fewer and fewer- so sad! They look exactly like the Token, shimmering green with all rainbow colours shimmering ib the Sunlight. I love Beetles 🤩

[@jibi4820]

re: wendy and chris criticisms, who cares if the game isnt what you expected in your own opinion just judge the game for the gameplay and decisions you make... when you pick up Ra you don't feel like you're in ancient egypt but its still a fantastic game cant take them seriously as reviewers with this embarassing way of thinking

[@DTChrisYi]

You're coming across really harsh for misunderstanding our point in bringing it up. Our review is ultimately about what the game actually is. However, when reviewing a product, it is worth discussing whether or not it is what it purports itself to be. Imagine this was a movie trailer that showed a bunch of gentle scenery and soft music, but the actual film turned out to be Apocalypto. That's worth mentioning in the movie review, but we would still review whether it was a good movie or not. Same point here because so many nature games that have come out in the last few years are not bluntly interactive like this one is.

[@Greggiexplore]

The game looks fantastic, but looks very boring.