The First Fulfillment Update! ⛲️
6 months ago
– Tue, Oct 21, 2025 at 04:22:27 PM
Step right up, pioneers—the fulfillment train is about to depart! 🚂
oh joyous news
Autumn’s rolling in, the air’s getting crisp, and that means it’s just about time for Tend to roll out to your doorsteps! This marks the first of several fulfillment updates, with the next one pulling into the station in early November (more on that soon).
Fulfillment Status Updates 🗞️
Since fulfillment runs in waves, please hold off on package inquiries until we announce 100% of the orders in your region have shipped. You’ll get an automatic tracking email once your game is being processed, though it may take 48 hours to show movement depending on when carriers pickup the packages from the warehouse. (Backers who are receiving packages from VFI will receive tracking once packages arrive in their country).
🇺🇸 United States
Both of our US warehouses, Ware2Go (NV) and Whalebacker (MI), have officially started shipping Tend today! Based on their timelines, everyone in the US should have their copies by mid-November.
🐔 Local Pickup in Nashville, TN
We’re prepping your local pickup copies this week and should have them shipped to our Nashville office soon! Expect an email next week with the exact pickup date and time, which will likely be sometime during the second week of November.
🇨🇦 Canada
Your freight is chugging along and will arrive at Pick & Pack (CA) in early November. Fulfillment is expected to start around November 10.
🇬🇧 UK / Ireland / Norway / Switzerland & Middle East
Your games are nearly there — freight lands at Zatu (UK) later this week, and fulfillment is on track to begin October 27.
For those outside the UK, transit may take a bit longer and tracking can pause between international checkpoints. Don’t worry, it’s just your parcel enjoying the views on its way to you, and the tracking will update once it arrives in your country.
🇪🇺 EU (except Ireland)
Freight will reach Meeple NL by mid-November, and they plan to start fulfillment by November 20.
🇦🇺 AU & 🇳🇿 NZ
Your freight’s on schedule to arrive at VR Distribution in early November, with fulfillment estimated to start November 10.
🌏 Asia / Mexico/ Brazil
Freight has safely arrived at VFI (China)! They’ll begin processing games November 3, which means sending your games on containers to regional hubs before passing them to local couriers for final delivery. You’ll receive a tracking email once your package hits your regional distributor.
Customer Support 🧑💻
Got a question about your Tend pledge? Send a dispatch to Zenith through our customer support form and we’ll get back to you as soon possible.
🏝️ IV Out of Office (10/28 - 11/ 3)
The IV Studio team will be taking a well-deserved breather next week (Oct 28 - Nov 3) after a packed summer of campaign launches, conventions, and fulfillment prep.
Tend fulfillment will continue chugging along during that time, but our customer support inbox will take a short break. Any support requests will be answered once we’re back in the studio. Thanks so much for your patience and kindness while we recharge! 🔋
We’ll share our next fulfillment update in early November. Until then, thank you for being part of this journey with us!
We hope you enjoy the spooky season! 👻
We tend to like ships. Even more so if they're carrying Tend! 🚢
7 months ago
– Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 03:52:22 PM
Pioneers, grab your radars. It’s time to track some boats! 🚢
After last month’s unexpected delay in the timeline, we have the joy of reporting that the Tend games are out of the factory, onto pallets, into containers, and (drumroll please 🥁) on freight boats heading to fulfillment centers around the world 🎉
The games are sailing across the seas, and soon enough they’ll be heading to your doorsteps! (Barring any more containers deciding to go for a swim this year 😬)
So where in the world is your Tend? 🗺️🤔
For the curious backers (and we know that’s a lot of you), we listed the tracking links for each region so you can follow the games in real time. Note, there may be boat transfers along the way on some of these routes, so the links here may become outdated at some point in the future if that occurs.
Watching these containers inch across the map might not be quite as exciting as playing a 72-player game of Tend, but hey, it’s something to tide you over until November 🍁
What’s Next?
Once each container reaches port, it’ll clear customs (🤞 hopefully quickly), get trucked to our warehouses, and fulfillment will begin. Each of these steps may face delays for various reasons, but as of now, we are still projecting to begin fulfillment in late October, running into early November for most regions. Our new warehouse partners have been incredibly fast at turning orders around, so once the games hit the ground, you won’t be waiting long.
That's all we have for shipping updates this month! By next month, we'll be able to have a better idea of the regional fulfillment timelines.
If you have any concerns about your order at any point, you can always contact us through our customer support form.
We’ve said it before, but it's worth repeating: thank you for sticking with us through the ups and downs of getting Tend made and shipped. The finish line is in sight, and we can’t wait for you to open your boxes, gather your friends, and make Zenith proud! 🥹
And speaking of things on the horizon… we’ve got an exciting new launch on Oct 7. We’ll just leave this little breadcrumb here for now 🍪🐜
Confirm Shipping Addresses and Production Rollercoaster 🎢
8 months ago
– Thu, Aug 21, 2025 at 12:59:19 PM
Pioneers! Buckle up for an interstellar rollercoaster, we’ve got news across the spectrum of enjoyability for you … it’s going to be a long ride 🙃
The most important item is that you need to update your address if you’ve moved or plan to move in the near future! Find more information at the bottom of the update.
Let’s start with the drop 💧
What’s the Status of Production? 👷
We have the unfortunate displeasure of informing you of another (shortish) delay in Tend production. And we don’t even have a great reason—final assembly at the factory is simply taking two weeks longer than we were told it would take. However, the games should be ready by next week for freight shipment. This delay means fulfillment is now expected to start in October and will continue into November.
Maaaaybe… we are being cosmically punished for hubris? After delivering nearly a dozen crowdfunding projects with the only significant delays stemming from a pandemic and tariffs, we got pretty confident in meeting our self-imposed deadlines. Tend is unrelentingly reminding us that sometimes things don’t go as planned… and wow does it make us angry.
Seriously, Austin might have to do some community service 😬
Dane saving Austin from a misdemeanor charge.
Setting aside the joviality, we’re deeply disappointed to share another delay, because we cannot wait to get these games in your hands and on your tables. As with all the obstacles we’ve faced over the years (there have been plenty), we’re learning and growing to avoid them in the future. Thank you for being a part of the journey that we’re on together.
Lastly, we want to preemptively share where delays are still possible, since they seem unrelenting. The games are finishing final assembly and next they’ll make their way onto pallets to be placed in containers, which are then loaded onto freight ships.
First, sometimes there is a delay waiting for availability on a ship going to the right place. Shipping lanes aren’t especially busy right now, so we don't expect this delay, but it’s possible.
Second, occasionally containers will get held up in customs inspections at port. This is pretty random and unlikely, but you never know!
Third, there are times when containers sit at ports just… waiting… on somebody to decide they deserve to move. This just happened during Brink fulfillment, when one of our US containers sat at the Chicago port for 2 weeks for no discernible reason. Fun.
Lastly, we’ve onboarded a few new warehouses that, once they receiving the games, are delivering them faster than we’ve ever accomplished before (yay)! We expect that performance to continue, but logistical businesses can sometimes get backed up and create some delays.
We have our eyes on these possibilities and will be doing everything in our power to avoid them.
Now onto the heights of this rollercoaster 🎢
Check Out This MPC Goodness 👏
We’ll let these images do all the coast-ing… (Are you tired of this bit yet?)
We’ve already shared a lot of individual component pictures in previous posts, so we’ll focus on the overall organization of the box, which is very nice in our opinion 😊
And yes, those ARE sleeved cards fitting very nicely in their designated spot.
Do a barrel roll! 😵💫
72-Player Games of Tend at Gen Con 🥳
We had the immense pleasure of sharing a game of Tend with three separate groups of SEVENTY-TWO PLAYERS at Gen Con 🫠 and it was… amazing!
After (mostly) successfully overcoming the hurdle of teaching 72 PLAYERS how to play a game all at the same time, we’re happy to report that if you choose to incorporate a game of Tend for your high school reunion/wedding/trans-Atlantic flight/wait in line at space mountain, it will be incredibly fun.
Did any of you happen to get a spot in one of the games? Let us know!
Let’s bring it on home to the station.
Final Call to Update Your Address!!! 🏡
Address update requests are due Friday Aug 22, 2025.
This isn’t your last chance to update your address, BUT IT MIGHT BE IF YOU DON’T REMEMBER LATER, so just do it now 🫵
If you’ve moved in the last 10 months, update your address.
If you know you’re going to be moving around October/November, we recommend updating your address to a trusted friend or family member’s address.
If you MIGHT be moving or going on an extended trip in October or November, we recommend updating your address to a trusted friend or family member’s address—it can’t hurt, right?
If you need any help with your address change, please let us know through our customer support form.
Y’all are the best, thanks for your support.
AND LET’S GET THIS THING DELIVERED.
Production Updates and GENCON 2025 🎊
9 months ago
– Thu, Jul 24, 2025 at 03:41:24 PM
Hey pioneers,
Tend mass production is moving right along! Things are on schedule, and there aren’t too many big updates this month. Just steady progress behind the scenes 🚂
Stamping markers were officially approved last month and are in production 🌈 All scratch-off cards are also now printing. We did run into a small hiccup with alignment in the sampling process (some grid lines weren’t quite lining up), but the manufacturer reassured us they would fix that for the final production.
We expect to receive the final mass production copy of Tend right after Gen Con. So once we're back in town and Tend is in our hands, we’ll take some more glamour shots of the finished game and share them with you here! 📸
As of now, we’re still on track to begin fulfillment in September 2025 🪩
IV Studio at GenCon 2025 🐉
If you're planning to be at GenCon, please come visit us! GenCon 2025 is shaping up to be our biggest event yet 👏
IV Studio will be in two action-packed locations all weekend long: Booth 2239 in the Exhibit Hall and Event Room 136 in Hoosier.
We'll post the companion app seed codes for the Gencon games on the day of so we can test yourself against the highest scorers 😉
Event Room 136 is also the home of Trading Timelines, our interactive Time to Panic mini-game for GenCon.
In Trading Timelines, you'll start with 5 randomly numbered cards (1-36) and the goal is to trade with other players to collect a set of five consecutive numbers.
Once you've collected a complete set, turn it in at Room 136 to claim prizes and con promos!
Swing by Booth 2239 or Room 136 to join the fun of Trading Timelines and check out our newest releases (including a Realm of Reckoning prototype).
Or just come by to say hi. We love meeting our fellow gamers 💜
P.S. If you come tell Lilly she is a S.T.A.R. that would make her day :')
We'll see you in August! 🦁
June Production is On Track 🚂
10 months ago
– Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 10:36:13 AM
Hi! 👋
We wanted to check in with you. How are you?
We're feeling excited about a lot of things. Mass production is still underway and things are going smoothly, so there's not much to update this month. But last month, we promised you pictures so this month, we have some nice samples for your viewing pleasure! 🙌
Shiny metal coins make us so happy
And so do contrast washed coins
These new dice samples use a better inking process that keeps the numbers clean, and we’ve also made color adjustments specifically to improve readability. We’re quite happy with how they turned out 🥹
Just an egg
And plentiful produce
Fishing anyone?
Now here's the real catch 🎣
Tend's production is moving along swimmingly, but we all know peace never lasts long...
