Tenward guide: make 10 rules and survival tips
Tenward is a make-ten puzzle with a clock under it. Clear routes of tiles that add up to exactly ten while new rows rise from the bottom. Here are the rules, the scoring, the tools and how to last longer.
How to play the make 10 game
The board
Six columns by eight rows. A run starts with the bottom four rows filled with tiles numbered 1 to 9. Most tiles are 2 to 5; 8s and 9s are rare.
Make ten
Drag a route of two, three or four tiles that adds up to exactly 10. Each tile must touch the one before it, diagonals included, and no tile can be used twice. Lift your finger to clear.
Nothing refills
Tiles above a cleared cell drop down their column, but nothing new falls in from the top. Every clear is headroom you keep.
Cascades
If the tiles that drop form a new route to ten, it clears on its own. A single move can cascade up to three times.
A tap that would push your route past ten is simply ignored, so there's no penalty for trying.
The rising floor
A new row rises from the bottom every 12 seconds at the start. The interval shortens by one second for every 30 seconds you survive, down to one row every 2 seconds after five minutes. The run ends only when a rising row pushes a tile off the top of the board.
Longer routes and cascades bank relief, which slows the next row by up to half its interval. Relief resets each time a row rises, so spend it rather than save it. The clock turns to pressure with six seconds left and to critical at three. When you're ready, TAP TO RISE brings the next row up early. The clock pauses when the app goes to the background.
How scoring works
| Source | Points |
|---|---|
| Two-tile route | 10 |
| Three-tile route | 14 |
| Four-tile route | 20 |
| Cascade waves | Base points × (wave number + 1) |
| Combo streak | +0.25× per step, up to 4× |
| Surviving a row | 10 × the row number |
A three- or four-tile route or any cascade raises your combo streak; a plain pair with no cascade resets it, and so do Shuffle and Clear. Row survival is the largest part of most scores, so staying alive matters more than any single clear.
Make 10 strategy tips
- 01Know your tens.Pairs: 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5. Triples built from the common tiles: 2+3+5, 2+4+4, 3+3+4, 1+4+5. Fours: 1+2+3+4, 2+2+3+3, 1+1+3+5. Because 2 to 5 are the most common tiles, three- and four-tile routes turn up often.
- 02Prefer longer routes.A four-tile route clears twice the cells of a pair, scores more, banks relief and keeps your combo going. Take the pair only when the stack is close to the top.
- 03Watch the tallest column.A run ends when any column overflows, not when the board is full. Clear from your highest column first, even for fewer points.
- 04Rescue the big numbers.A 9 can only clear as a pair with a 1. An 8 needs a 2, or two 1s. Use the rare low tiles on the high ones before they strand in a column.
- 05Set up cascades.Clearing low in a column drops everything above it. Look for a clear that brings two tiles together to make ten on their way down.
Tools: one charge each
Every run starts with one Undo, one Shuffle, one Hint and one Clear. You can't earn more, and using any of them marks the run as assisted.
Undo
Takes back your last move, but never past a row that has already risen.
Shuffle
Re-rolls the numbers on every tile without changing the shape of the stack, and always leaves at least one ten on the board.
Hint
Lights up one legal route.
Clear
Removes any one tile, and the column above it drops. Tapping an empty cell doesn't waste it.
Clear is best saved for a stranded 9 at the top of a tall column. Shuffle is strongest on a crowded board where no ten is in reach.
The Daily Run and Practice
The Daily Run is seeded by the UTC date, so everyone gets the same opening board and the same sequence of rising rows. A new one arrives at 00:00 UTC. Starting the Daily spends your one ranked attempt: it is claimed online before the board is dealt, so it can't be restarted on another device, and a ranked run left unfinished at the reset isn't ranked. The Daily leaderboard ranks by score. After that, choosing Daily starts Practice.
Only the ranked Daily Run counts toward your streak. Practice gives you a fresh random board any time, as often as you like, and is never ranked. Pro adds the Marathon board, which keeps your best run on today's seed, and a weekly Streak Saver that covers one missed day automatically.
The Ranks tab also runs a free weekly league: your ranked Daily scores for the week earn points, and Marathon runs never count. Every row you survive, in any run, also climbs a rank ladder that earns new tile themes.
Tenward Free vs Pro
Both modes are free, with no ads. Pro doesn't change the board, the tools or the rules.
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Ranked Daily Run | 1 a day | 1 a day |
| Practice | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Achievements and solo challenges | All | All |
| Daily archive | Today + 3 days | Today + 730 days |
| Run history | 20 runs | 500 runs |
| Marathon board | Not included | Included |
| Friend codes and head-to-head challenges | Not included | Included |
| Tile themes | Tidelight, plus rank themes you earn | Adds Sunreef, Midnight, Emberglass |
| Streak Saver | Not included | 1 a week |
| History sync across devices | Not included | Included, when signed in |
Archive days replay as unranked practice. Tenward Pro comes with the one-time Full Game Unlock, or with the StackForge Play Pass, monthly or annual.
FAQ
What numbers add up to 10?
The pairs are 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6 and 5+5. In Tenward you can also use three or four touching tiles, such as 2+3+5 or 1+2+3+4.
Can routes go diagonally?
Yes. Each tile in a route must touch the previous one in any of eight directions, and you can't use a tile twice.
What ends a Tenward run?
A rising row pushing a tile off the top of the board. There's no other way to lose.
Can I get more Undos or Hints?
No. Every run starts with one Undo, Shuffle, Hint and Clear, and none of them is sold or earned.
When does the Daily Run reset?
At 00:00 UTC. Everyone plays the same board and rows, and the first run you start is the one that ranks.