Tend: Hive (IV Studio)
Tend: Hive is finally live on Gamefound, and I was lucky enough to get a prototype to dig into from the lovely team at @iv___studio. đ
If you want to see it in motion, my full solo playthrough is up on YouTube via the link in my bio. I’ve also popped a seed link below so you can play along with me whenever you fancy it:
https://tend-companion.iv.studio/?seed=itsyourturn-hive&cards=base&expansions=hive
A New Good: Artisan
First up, Hive brings a brand new good type, artisan. Each artisan square is worth two VP, and it slots into your existing manifest scoring just like any other good.
You also get bee dice. You start with access to the yellow one, and once you’ve unlocked the right upgrade the white one joins the party. New neighbour cards come along specifically asking for honey, so the expansion doesn’t just sit alongside the base game, it actively pulls you toward using it.
Apiaries, aka THE BEES
There’s a whole new sheet in this one, split into four sections, and it’s where the bees live.
Apiaries are a new route to gaining goods, specifically honey in three rarities. You unlock an apiary by paying the resources listed to the left of it, and from that point you can start assigning bee dice into the grid. Yellow only, mind, unless you’ve unlocked the advanced apiary.
Each colour has its own placement rule:
Yellow every number has to be different
Blue every number has to be the same
Red the sum of all numbers has to come in under 11 (there’s a prototype error in my photo on this one)
Purple every number has to be higher than 3
You get two rows per apiary, and the moment you fill a row you gain that honey, then keep gaining it in every growth phase. Getting a row online early genuinely changes the shape of your game.
Task Upgrades
There’s a new set of task upgrades that stack alongside the base game ones, each giving you extra resources based on what you roll once they’re unlocked. Three per task type means the combinations are effectively endless, and it’s a lovely way to make your engine feel like yours rather than the one the sheet nudged you towards.
Investments
This is the bit I really like. In base Tend I always found certain low value resources ended up converted into money that didn’t do much for me once the energy bars were spent.
Investments give that money, and other spare resources, somewhere useful to go. You dump them into medal investments, and at the end of the game you total the value of everything you’ve unlocked and multiply it by your medals. In my case that was a x4 multiplier. Spicy, right?
The Cargo Pod
Hive also comes with a handy cargo pod that sits on top of your hive sheet. It behaves a lot like the manifest but as one big storage space, and the favoured good scores 3 points instead of 2. Complete a row and you earn some yummy honey rather than an action. Right underneath it is where final scoring happens and where you unlock pastry upgrades. đ
The Verdict
Tend: Hive adds a proper extra layer to the honeycomb without piling on complexity. More options, more routes, but never that overwhelmed feeling where you stop knowing what a good turn looks like. Three plays in and I’ve gone a completely different way each time, which is exactly what I want from an expansion.
The prototype was loaned for review – but all views are my own.
