Getting Started in Pollex

Pollex is a first-person horror game from Kooky Studios, built in Unreal Engine 5 and planned for Steam in Q4 2026. It is single-player. There is no advertised extra player in the ring, no console SKU on the listing, and no live download. This beginner guide is the pre-launch version of “how to play”: what the store page actually says, what you should do before install day, and how to think about the first match so you do not treat a digit like a tutorial resource.

If you only remember one sentence, remember the official loop: grip, pin, win — but down here nobody plays clean.

What you are walking into

The collectors are not patient. The banks are not interested. Someone knows a place underground, off the books, where debts get settled the old way: thumb to thumb, bone against bone. That place is the pit. You do not bet chips. You bet fingers. Win a match and you take your opponent’s. Lose and you watch yours get cut. The deeper you go, the higher the stakes, and the less you have left to gamble with.

That is not flavour text you can skip. Finger loss is described as a core mechanic with visceral animation. Themes include debt, coercion, and survival under duress. If that is a hard no, stop here and skip the wishlist. If you still want in, keep reading and then confirm hardware on system requirements.

Before the client exists

1. Open the official Steam page and wishlist Pollex. Launch notification matters more than a fake code table.
2. Check the minimum spec: Windows 10, Core i7-class CPU, 16 GB RAM, Nvidia GTX 1070, DirectX 12, 4 GB storage. That is a 2016-era GPU floor with a modern RAM floor — see performance if you are on a laptop.
3. Read controls so first-person camera comfort is a solved problem, not a surprise in a tense pin.
4. Skim how to win and how to survive so you have a stake rule before adrenaline writes one for you.
5. Ignore “Pollex codes” videos until they match the codes hub. There are no verified strings today.

The first-hour mental model

Think of the opening as three layers stacked on one body.

Layer 1 — The debt. You are not a tourist. You are a person who already lost the legal path. Every match is a payment attempt. The house still takes a cut. Clearing the debt is the win condition the listing gives you; walking out whole is the condition your hands care about.

Layer 2 — The ring. A match is a thumb war with consequences. You must read the other hand: timing, feints, and tells. The page says opponents are wrong and the crowd wants blood. Translate that as: do not expect playground rules, do not expect a referee who likes you, and do not expect the crowd to reward mercy.

Layer 3 — The pit as a place. Official screenshots also show a quiet apartment — a bedroom, a bathroom — before or beside the ring. Every loss marks you. Every win draws attention. Navigation is not a lobby with a ranked playlist. It is an underground world built on pain and debt. The people running it have their own rules and their own reasons to keep you in the ring. That is why the house is a player-facing page, not trivia.

A simple first-match plan

Until we have a tutorial transcript, use this conservative plan:

• Treat the first opponent as a read, not a jackpot. Do not stake more than the listing’s “every match is played for keeps” already implies — which is already everything on the table.
• Watch for tells before you commit to a pin. The store page lists “read your opponent, learn their tells, exploit their weaknesses” as a feature, not a loading-screen tip.
• If you lose, do not immediately queue a higher stake to “win it back.” That is how debt games eat people. See betting stakes and the match plan.
• If you win, assume attention is a cost. The pit does not forget.

What “getting started” is not

It is not a map of secret tunnels. It is not a list of named bosses. It is not a promise that a demo exists — the Steam page currently says the game is not yet available. If a demo drops, this guide will add install steps and a first-room checklist. Until then, the beginner skill is restraint: wishlist, spec-check, and study the loop.

How this page links the rest of the wiki

• Play theory: how to win, how to survive, tier list.
• People: opponents, the house.
• Store: roadmap, codes, review.
• Hardware: tools hub.

Kooky Studios says the idea of a childhood thumb war twisted into something unsettling would not leave them alone. Your job as a new player is the opposite: leave the pit as soon as the debt is paid. Getting started means knowing the difference.