Tender: Creature Comforts

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.