Tender User Reviews

What users say

Top reviews

Update!!

hi pls update the game its been four years and itd be super nice to see updates like new characters, different story lines, and more options and id give my life to you if you do please n thank yewwww

nope

thought this was a game but it’s just the worst parts of dating apps.

Years later, and I still think about this game

The best written thing in the app store. My partner and I still joke about the funny date endings several years after playing this game. I wish I could find anything else this clever. Perfect match of form and content, with the Tindr swiping.

Feels so real

Some of the conversations you navigate through feel unbelievably real. I’m playing Tender for the second or third time, but it’s been a few years, and it’s been really fun rediscovering it. What a fantastic game.

So negative/too real/ not a game for tucking in

I have had this game download it for about a week. I find that all the interactions are negative. I also find that when you think it’s going well, it’s not.
I do find it frustrating that you have to meet dates on your actual time of the date. Honestly, how can anyone schedule a two minute date when they are working a job or are doing life. A game should be something that you can immerse yourself into the experience, and forget about the real world. This game isn’t that it makes you feel horrible about yourself because you keep being rejected. It is causing me anxiety. I have missed a handful of dates. I think you should be able create a date and go on it when you are able to fit it into your schedule.🤷🏻‍♀️
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Fun, but not for healing

I got the game after a rough breakup and was hoping to date some cute aliens. Of course, it’s my bad that I didn’t notice in the description that this game was more than just a dating sim. It really goes deep into all the ways people just don’t click, relationships are messy, and most connections you make on dating apps don’t work out or don’t go anywhere. It is a really fascinating concept and the game is written in a fun way that makes it very realistic and colorful. But you can imagine that this is not an experience for someone who is looking for cuddles and affirmation. The characters in Tender won’t give you that.

One thing that really rubbed me the wrong way is that one of the “good” endings you can get is with an ex. Whom you can name. I made the mistake of giving the ex a real name and regretted it a lot. It’s not fun when your recent and very unpleasant memories get bent into a fictional world that doesn’t know anything about your experience. Honestly my expectation when asked for a name was that I’d get to roast the ex with Annie, or that I’d meet a character who “accidentally” has the same name.

So… I think this is an well-made game, a fun and varied experience that really makes you think about online dating, but it left me mostly with negative emotions after playing.
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ba

this stupid okay no play

😡😡😡🐀

This was an amazing game. perfectly executes it’s concept, but every time I think about the rat character I get viscerally and uncontrollably angry.

I dunno

It’s extremely, painfully realistic. The aliens will ghost you, insult you for no apparent reason, and are often cheating on their partners who show up to yell at you.

I’m honestly not sure what the devs were thinking. They put a lot of cute and clever references and memes in the app, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any chance of actually finding someone you like and starting a ‘relationship’ with them.

Many of the conversations won’t have good options and are obviously set up so you can’t ever make a successful match.

Two stars for almost managing to be worth the money. I’d be willing to change it to five if they ever put out an update and add some success stories to go with the forced failures.
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Fantastic game!

Tender is a roller coaster of emotions; it’s a thoughtful reflection on dating app culture and what it means to try to connect to other people using technology. The writing, art, and app are very well crafted. To be transparent, I helped the developers test the game while it was in production, but I think I would still really like it without knowing them :)
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Amazing

I just found this game. It is incredible. I love the art style, and it feels that there is an immense amount of content. I am on my second play through, after one of my dates on the first play through went … badly.

Eh…

Not sure where to start with this. It is, after all, a dating game with aliens. The premise is cute, the art is cute.
*Possible Spoilers*
Almost all of the characters are either mean, emotionally unavailable, or just plain ghost you. Of the characters you swipe right on, less than half will match with you and then even fewer still will actually interact with you. Also, be aware a profile for your “ex” will pop up (when setting up your character you tell the system their name) and that may be difficult for some folks. Was this game worth the price? Eh….for me, no. I played through once (and “lost”, as in I maxed out the amount of dates you’re allowed to have before the game makes you start over) and will not be playing it again.
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I want to love it…

The concept and art style for the game are great! The pacing and actual stories… not so much. If I wanted to wait hours for barely any matches and a couple of lack luster messages, I’d re-download tinder. None of the replies are something I would actually say. For example, one of the characters genuinely tries to start a conversation with you and the only options are short one or three word replies. So of course the character unmatches you. What even am I supposed to do with that? I’m not this boring or short with people, and frankly I wouldn’t want to date the player either. Have yet to have a date go right… just seems frustrating that everything goes south and there are no good options to make things go right. I want to get to know the characters and enjoy a story, not act like a closed off jerk to them and end up feeling lonelier than when I started. I’d even take a crazy dramatic cheater or yandere twist over this lukewarm small talk. Ugh.
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Woah

I came across the pride section and scrolled and saw this, I liked the art style and it looked cute, so I got it. Oh. My. Gosh. The art style is truly as good as it looked on the app store, the mechanics run smoothly, and the ending I got was pretty cute. The ending I got was joining Leela, and its a really sweet ending. I likes the first date at their little dance at the farm, and liked how theres ending dialogue. Overall pretty fun.
I love this game, however I wish that the dates were longer, on the first date I did with a character I forgot the name of I noticed that the date didn’t take me more than a couple minutes, which made me a bit sad since you wait so long for the date. Thats really my biggest pet peeve about the game, you wait a long time for things. But, its accurate. Love doesn’t develop overnight, and it makes sense that goes the same for a simulated one. Overall the game was really fun, I've only played one play through, but definitely will start another!
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Subtle, weird, and cozy

probably not a game for everyone, but then again, why would you want to be like everyone
very genius snapshots of app dating (complete w/ fish poses & unicorns & occasional ghosting)
aliens are personable and moments of genuine tenderness alternate with satire
love the bit of code that forced me to type out a different response from what my character was thinking
I’ll be stealing some lines for my actual dating profile perhaps
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Oh so real!

This game is a perfect simulation of app based dating. I laughed countless times after experiencing the same comments and behaviors experienced in real life. But the game also reminded me not to be that jerk or make that comment an alien in the game would take offense to. Looking forward to more games!
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Crying again

Downloaded this thinking it was supposed to help with heartache, you know, warm and cuddly, but most everyone (of the very few) who match with me either don’t want to date me, or just ghost me

They also made my Ex into a character (you give the help character a name and they make it into an avatar.

That hurt a lot— I swiped right because I didn’t realise it was then, and thought it was just a character with the same name. Turns out it was, and it brought up the pain again, and so much worse, since they ghosted me.
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Incredible game, but...

Not sure if the creators read these, but I desperately want to know if there will ever be an update w/ more content — it’s frustrating that there are only 5 characters that you can achieve endings with out of such a large pool. The majority of the profiles I was most excited about (Allie, Sofia, Sylvia, Roxanne...) never swipe right on the player and really excellent first dates (Ian, Hannah, Teddy...) frequently result in your date never messaging you again.

That being said, I’ve spent hours on this game. Beautiful artwork. The plots of individual characters and the conversations you have with them are heartbreaking, touching, hilarious, awkward and feel personal. Interspersed with satire on dating apps like Tinder, it is equal parts funny and moving. It’s something you can play over and over. Definitely worth buying. So, so, so good.
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Amazing!

If you are wanting a dating game where the people are head over heels for you in the first instant, this game is not for you. If you are interested in a game that emulates real world dating, you are in luck.

This game is frustrating in the same way Tinder is. You match with people, go on dates, and more often than not they fizzle into nothing. You’ll feel connected with a person, only for them to ghost you or tell you it won’t work. It is heartbreaking and honest.

I was not expecting this game to make me so emotional. There is an option to have an ex on the game. I swiped right on him for giggles and ended up feeling some sense of closure in our relationship.

The art is super cute and very interesting. Many of the aliens do not go by human notions of gender. Many females dress more masculine and males more feminine, so it is a bit difficult to see who is what gender if you have a preference. That would be the only thing I would change. It would be nice to see the aliens pronouns listed in their Tender bios for both my own personal preferences and to see how different alien species/races present their gender.

Overall this is a very sweet and honest dating game that perfectly encapsulates the frustrations and heartbreak of irl dating in an online age.
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Could be more!

Overall I feel like this game has so much potential, but only if more things were added. Maybe having more profiles or more pictures on each profile could be interesting, having more swipes would be nice. I wish I didn’t have to schedule dates at the same time, maybe being able to choose whenever I’d be able to remember the dates would be good 😭 also I thought at the end you could finish the conversations but you can’t? Idk.
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