Wouter & Ymke 
Tend gives you quite a lot to do with your hands. You’ll scratch through forests and mines, stamp shapes onto your cargo manifest, roll dice to catch fish and move chunky dice around your farm as crops and animals develop. Apparently a pencil was simply not enough.
Underneath all of that is a fairly substantial flip-and-write about gathering resources, improving your tools and trying to turn one useful action into several more. The tactile bits are what first caught our attention, but after a few rounds we were more interested in how everything connected. The question is whether Tend still works once scratching cards and stamping shapes stops being a novelty.
👥 1-6 players, ages 14+
⌛ Playing time: 90 minutes
📝 Designers: Max Anderson, Zac Dixon, Austin Harrison & Toby Sarnelle
🏢 Publisher: IV Studio (review copy provided)
Gameplay Overview
Welcome to a strange new alien planet, where the Zenith Corporation has started a new colony—and you’re one of the hardy pioneers sent to make it thrive. Your mission? Harvest the land by mining, fishing, farming, and gathering resources from alien forests and rivers, then send it all back to Zenith HQ for study.
Tend unfolds over 12 rounds, and each round you’ll pick two out of five possible action cards, of which some will give you an added boost if you meet certain conditions.
The first main action is mining and chopping. Here’s where Tend steps up with something different—you’ll use scratch cards to reveal resources! With a coin, you scratch off sections of a mine or forest, uncovering wood, hardwood, copper, iron, and more. As you upgrade your tools, you’ll get more powerful actions that let you dig deeper, leading to new rewards like unlocking fishing spots at the depths of the mines and forests.
Speaking of fishing, once you unlock it, you’ll be able to choose a fishing spot and roll dice to find out where you’ll cast your line. The more you upgrade your fishing gear, the wider your fishing area becomes, upping your chances of catching rare fish. Each fishing spot has its own types of fish, so it’s worth choosing your location carefully.
Then there’s tending the farm. With this action, you’ll till soil, plant seeds, water crops, and even build fences—all in a day’s work. Unlike mining or fishing, farming doesn’t give you instant resources. Instead, you’ll see the payoff during the “grow phase,” which happens right before the action phase each round. At that point, your crops will yield fruits, veggies, and even animal products like eggs, milk, and wool.
Once you’ve gathered resources, there’s no storage system, so you’ll need to decide how to use them right away. You can apply them toward various upgrades, enhancements, unlockable items, animals, projects, and badges by simply marking them off on your player sheet. If you’re looking for some extra cash, you can sell them back to HQ for coins, which need to be spent immediately.
A fun twist in Tend is your cargo manifest. Each resource corresponds to a polyomino shape, color-coded by the type of action. Using stamps, you’ll fill in the shapes in your manifest, making sure not to place two of the same color next to each other. Complete a row, and you’ll score an extra action! As you work toward different badges, you’ll earn medals, which you can also use in the cargo manifest to fill up spaces faster.
And if you’re feeling generous, you can donate resources to your neighbor. At the start of each round, each player gets two neighbor cards with specific items. If you acquire one of the items, you can choose to donate it to your neighbor, marking off a bonus on your neighbor track. They’ll be able to record the item on their sheet in the following round.
Scoring in Tend takes place throughout the game. At the start of play, three scoring cards are drawn and placed on the game board, to be scored at the end of rounds six, ten, and twelve. At the game’s end, you’ll also earn points for the number of squares stamped in your cargo manifest, completed badges, and your standing on the neighbor track. Score the most, and the win is yours!
Game Info
Tend is the newest game release from the team at IV Games, featuring creators Max Anderson, Zac Dixon, Austin Harrison, and Toby Sarnelle. Hot off the press and now live on Kickstarter, Tend joins the ranks of IV Games’ previous hits like Moonrakers, Veiled Fate, and Fractured Sky. True to the studio’s style, Tend offers a deluxe experience from start to finish. This one’s a “_-and-write” game (more on that shortly!), designed for 1-6 players aged 14 and up, with a typical game time of about 90 minutes. It’s a medium-weight title—not overly complex, but definitely geared towards players who’ve tackled a few games before.
Components, Production, and Artwork
Let’s talk components. We received a preview copy from the publisher, so keep in mind that the final version might have a few tweaks. But knowing IV Games (especially after Fractured Sky), the finished product will likely be just as high-quality as what we’ve seen so far—luxurious and packed with goodies.
Now, onto what’s inside the box, which is practically bursting with game pieces. There’s a stunning playmat, perfect for laying out action cards and objectives in the center of the table. The game also includes stacks of scratch cards (which vary under the surface, so resource placement changes each game).
In Tend, each player uses two sheets: a farm sheet and a cargo sheet. There are generous stacks of these, so you won’t need to worry about running out anytime soon. Cargo sheets are randomized, meaning your scoring bonuses differ from game to game. On top of that, each player receives six colored stamp markers and a solid metal coin for the scratch-offs (and honestly, there’s something incredibly satisfying about using that coin). And if you’re a fan of tactile gaming, you’ll love the nearly 100 farm dice included in three different sizes, plus rolling dice to determine fishing outcomes. Toss in a hefty supply of objective and season task cards, and you’ve got a large box stuffed with everything you need for plenty of gaming sessions.
Gameplay and Strategy
It’s tricky to pin Tend down with just a few words. The game’s accessible but manages to run deep with layers of strategy. The scratch-off cards feel surprisingly fresh and add a hands-on thrill, turning resource gathering into an interactive treasure hunt. The stamp markers also add a clever twist, letting you track your progress in a way that feels both nostalgic and unique.
The gameplay is medium-weight, balancing strategic planning with a manageable level of complexity. Decisions feel meaningful without dragging down the flow, so you don’t experience too much downtime. You’re constantly juggling choices: When should you upgrade your tools? Do you fish now, or hold out for a better opportunity? Figuring out the right timing for upgrades and actions is essential, but the rules are clear enough that the game moves at a comfortable pace.
A core part of Tend’s strategy lies in balancing short-term and long-term goals. Since resources must be used immediately (no stockpiling here!), you’re faced with decisions each round about where to put them to use. Upgrades and actions open up new ways to access resources, so each choice feels rewarding. But here’s the thing—each round is led by a set of action cards, meaning there’s an element of chance, too. Sometimes, the action you’re hoping for won’t be available, bringing a factor of unpredictability to the gameplay that keeps things lively.
And as you play, you’ll notice a delightful snowball effect with combos that just keep building. Early turns are simple, but by midgame, you’re stringing together actions that trigger other actions. You’ll be filling rows in the cargo manifest to unlock bonus moves, which snowball further as your upgraded tools let you make more powerful plays. The longer you play, the more you’re pulling off chain reactions—and it’s incredibly satisfying to see your plans come together!
If there’s one downside, it’s that player interaction is a bit light. Although you can gain points and bonuses by donating resources to your neighbors, most of the game has you working on your own sheets. So unless you’re chatting about your progress, it’s easy to focus on your own board without much idea of what others are up to.
Final Thoughts
What makes Tend such a fresh experience for us is how it combines resource management with a sense of discovery; the scratch-offs and stamps make old mechanics feel brand new. Admittedly, our first playthrough had us flipping through the rulebook a few times, but once we got into the flow, the game ran smoothly, and the unique gameplay elements began to shine. Each turn builds on the last as options expand and combos stack up, giving every decision a greater sense of impact as you progress.
The different ways of gathering resources in Tend come together seamlessly, each with its own distinct flavor—from mining for minerals to reeling in alien fish—creating a refreshing twist on resource management. The game strikes a perfect balance between innovation and familiarity, making it a great choice for players who enjoy hands-on exploration combined with strategic decision-making. If you’re on the hunt for a game that truly scratches (literally!) your itch for resource management, Tend is well worth a try.
📝 We received a preview copy of the game from the publisher, IV Games.
