Pollen

From Allplay:

Pollen is a tile-placement and area majority game. Despite the beautiful art and theme, it can get quite mean!

Grow a lush garden of beautiful blooms in order to attract helpful pollinators to their favorite flowers. Lay tiles in the right spots so that they pollinate your flowers instead of your opponents'. Make sure you win the right mix, because Pollen has a unique scoring system!

There are some classic Reiner Knizia mechanisms at the heart of Pollen that guarantee an interactive (and even cutthroat!) game. The endgame scoring makes you pay extra attention to which types of insects you are collecting, not allowing you to focus only one one.

Beth Sobel's incredible illustrations combine with stellar components to tie it all together. With Pollen, you can create a stunning garden right on your table!

Use Your Star Cards Wisely!
Star cards count for all insect types. Use them for high-value pollinator tokens, and surround them to get the most value.

Keep An Eye On The Scoring Rules
Pollen has an uncommon scoring system at the end of the game. If one player has the most meeples in two or three types, they win! If not, more scoring rules apply. If a player doesn’t lead in any type, they are eliminated. To be eligible for any scoring, a player must lead in at least one category. But, your score is only made up of the points in the other categories! This means you want to lead with as little margin as possible to maximize your other categories. This leads for tense meeple counting the whole game!

It’s Okay To Be A Little Mean
We’re proud of the beautiful butterflies and greenery illustrated by Beth Sobel. However, this expectation should be set: this game isn’t a chill tile-layer. There are only a few spots to fight over, and the action starts instantly! Points aren't gifted. Get your elbows out and attract those insects!