Like the Scanner Sombre, but actually fun :D The horror aspect adds a lot to the overall experience.
Game Tags
About This Game
Hello! We’re a small indie team launching our first game, Pollen. It’s an intense, hardcore escape-the-maze experience currently in Early Access, and we’re thrilled to share it with players.
Prepare for the ultimate challenge: navigate intricate mazes, collect keys to unlock doors, and outwit relentless guardians that are always on your trail. The game demands both skill and strategy – carefully place your Respawn Totem save your position in the level and plan your moves, but beware: one mistake could send you right back to the start. Suspense, tactics, and survival – do you have what it takes to conquer the maze?
Right now, the game offers Classic Mode, but we’re planning exciting updates like Time Attack Mode (finish a level in under 10 minutes!), additional levels and maybe even more (Multiplayer anyone?).
This is our Roadmap for 2025

Thanks for checking us out!
Best, FSTR Team
Screenshots
User Reviews
Super cool concept for a game! The aesthetic is incredible, and they use it to great effect to get a lot of mileage out of simple mechanics. My only criticism thus far is the level design, as it feels a bit overly obtuse past the first key. I could not for the life of me figure out where the second key was, the area felt a bit too sprawling and empty to get a good sense of positioning. Though the giant skeletons and skulls did help a lot with landmarking, and I was able to use those to orient myself. The way the enemies work is also odd, in that they keep their position rather than resetting when you die. They're also placed in ways that it's difficult or impossible to sneak past them, making feel like I'm intended to do a death run to draw them out, then run past them on the next life once they're out of the way. Not a bad mechanic per say, but definitely unusual. The sound design is also really neat, it sells the wild VFX well. Overall, it's a really unique experience, and I'm glad I...
it really is just a labyrinth that you need to explore with limited vision. the visuals are great but the sound effects leave more to be desired. the mazes themselves are also just not that interesting, and the guardians and traps are placed in such tedious spots that while you are running from one, you will find at least one other one that will tag along and chase you. the concept is super cool and the trap effects are interesting but i dont like the execution at all.
Creepy and weird. Quite new experience for me - game as an art object. I'd not recommend to launch it when you're high. Not too much content ATM, but it says early access, so let's hope developers will improve it further.
I really like the concept but its still missing some polish. I guess that's to be expected with a game in early access tho. Also the game is very frustrating the first time you play it. The "easy" level took me three tries and two hours to beat. I feel like a better tutorial would be nice. Visuals look great tho. Only thing that would be nice is to make it more clear what direction the guardians are facing
The experience of playing with Pollen is labyrinthine, full of horror and exploration. This is a gloomy atmosphere that will create a really tense experience. If you are in for a more challenging game with horror aspects, I strongly recommend checking Pollen.
[strike]Psychedelic[/strike] very interesting catch-up game that is organically linked to a hard and big maze, nice
"Art house", in the good sense of the word, with an attractive futuristic atmosphere
Alright game with cool visuals, the maze is easy even on the harder modes, the "guardians" are easily able to be bypassed and I completed the first level in just over 4 minutes without being careful at all and racking up a massive 1 "death" (yet I was not rewarded the corresponding achievements as the game crashed with "A fatal error" and closed itself as soon as I dropped into the exit). The second level I finished in just over 5 with a slight bit of stealth and more management by just moving the guardians around, but even then I finished with less than 10 deaths (Still not awarded the achievements due to the same type of error), I like the scanner visuals, but I feel there definitely could be more done to make it more "Horror" and the game-play is repetitive without much more challenge, all in all, its a good short game for the price, aside from the obvious bugs when finishing the level, but unless you like game-play loops, I wouldn't recommend.
Strange game from the first start until the last session. I couldn't even get pass the 1st level, which according to the developers is "easy". Prepare yourself for a super hardcore souls-like game in which you will die many many times! Support indie devs!
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System Requirements
Minimum
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: i5 Gen 11
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 2 GB available space
Recommended
- OS: Windows 11
- Processor: i7 Gen 12
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: RTX 2070
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 2 GB available space
FAQ
How much does Pollen cost?
Pollen costs $5.99.
What are the system requirements for Pollen?
Minimum: Minimum: OS: Windows 10 Processor: i5 Gen 11 Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 2 GB available space Recommended: Recommended: OS: Windows 11 Processor: i7 Gen 12 Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: RTX 2070 DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 2 GB available space
What platforms is Pollen available on?
Pollen is available on Windows PC.
Is Pollen worth buying?
Pollen has 89% positive reviews from 19 players.
When was Pollen released?
Pollen was released on Jan 15, 2025.
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