A cooperative campaign experience for 1-4 adventurers set in a fantasy world on the brink of being consumed by nature. Setup in only 5 minutes, and complete a scenario in 30 minutes per player. Pre-Orders & Late Pledges are open now for a limited time!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
On the Tariff Situation and Moving Forward
12 months ago
– Wed, Apr 09, 2025 at 04:10:59 PM
Hello, everyone. Raul here.
As much as we love delivering exciting updates about Rove and the Addax Games team, we are going to have to get serious for just a little. Stay with me though, and we’ll get back to fun stuff before you know it.
The recently imposed tariffs on Chinese imports into the United States have hit the American boardgame space like an earthquake: where once there was solid footing, now things are unsteady, uncertain. With so many companies sourcing their components from China, these tariffs mean that the path to creating games in the U.S. has become more challenging. Increased production and shipping costs mean that many of us in the industry are going to have to make tough decisions in order to try and make this new math work.
Some are looking into moving manufacturing away from China, but this is not a universal solution, and the US does not currently have the infrastructure to produce complex games such as Rove yet. Others are pausing production and delivery of products while things settle down. In the worst case, some crowdfunded games just might not be made at all.
The Addax Games team have had our own lengthy conversations, and have come to the decision that we are moving forward with manufacturing. We are fully committed to delivering Rove to our backers, despite the new difficulties that we now face. Once manufacturing is complete, we will need to evaluate the best possible way to get the game into the hands of our US backers due to the current situation with tariffs, but rest assured that we will be carefully monitoring the situation. Mike and myself will be updating our backers frequently over the next few weeks, providing full transparency regarding the final stages of manufacturing and fulfillment.
We love games; making them and playing them, certainly, but more than that, we love this community. What is happening now is scary, but we know that games will still get played. People will still meet around the table to trade sheep. We look forward to getting our game on your table very soon.
No matter what smelly beast appears to block their way, Rovers will always find a path to victory!
A note from Mike, Rove’s Project Manager:
As Raul has explained, manufacturing has already started and will continue as planned, despite the turmoil from tariffs. Our backers outside of the United States should see very little change in manufacturing and fulfillment, as they are largely unaffected by the current situation. For our fellow Americans, we will need to evaluate the situation once manufacturing is completed and the games are ready to ship. As the situation is highly unstable and has been changing day by day, it is useless to forecast now what the best course of action will be in a few weeks when we are ready to ship. Since we started writing this post, tariffs have jumped from 20% to 54%, and now to 104%, and a few hours ago a 90-day pause on many tariffs was announced. We're going to move forwards, carefully, and adapt to the situation as it continues to evolve.
Raul and I are committed to keeping you updated as to our progress and the current tariff situation with far more frequency than before.
However, please rest assured that Addax Games is committed to getting Rove into our backers hands as quickly as we can.
Okay, that’s enough gloom and doom. Do you want to see some cool sneak peaks that I just received from the factory? If you’re not okay with spoilers, PLEASE, don’t keep scrolling.
Hey look, shiny new dice!
Here's some recent samples from our new dice molds. I believe this is the first time we've shown off the Countdown D20 Dice used for health tracking in our Premium Dice pack, and the new Xulc Parasite Dice from our Expansion. Note the color-swirl effect, which was the purpose of this latest test.
So what does "Proofing" mean anyway?
Hundreds and Hundreds of hours went into proofing our game materials, which very often meant staring at pages like this, trying to find errors. The image above is a sheet of punchboard, which is then diecut into 7 individual sheets, each being placed inside of the Class Tuckboxes. We took great care in spreading out the amount of time needed to punch out and organize little bits of cardboard so that you can focus on what matters- the gameplay! Eagle-eyed viewers might find the first glimpse of a never before revealed Prime Rover class on the page..
Samples of our Injection-molded miniatures!
We feel that our miniatures came out particularly good, with a tremendous amount of detail on every class evolution.
Nick Natsios did a great job sculpting our miniatures, translating the movement and action of our art into truly powerful character miniatures.
A variety of diverse evolutions for each class are available, dramatically changing the way in which you play. Also, I just now realized that that Zusug is being held in the air by a giant, magical hand as magical tendrils unravel a scroll. THAT IS SO COOL.
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Thank you for reading through our update! We wanted to be sure we let everyone know that we're still
If you're looking to talk about Rove, be sure to check out our Discord. If you're specifically looking for help with your pledge, please use our new Customer Service email.
March Update
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 12:07:22 PM
Hello everyone, Raul here!
The Addax Games team has been busy little bookworms since our last update. We have been reading, revising, and rereading all 10 of the books included in our Kickstarter campaign, making sure that everything is in its proper place, and that no Briarwogs have escaped confinement. Well, we are pleased to announce that we are finished proofing the books, we are 100% done, and the game has fully moved on to the manufacturing stage!
This means that, from a production standpoint, Rove is finished! Hurray! We are astounded and grateful for all the incredible work our artists, writers, proofreaders, and playtesters have put in to get us to this point. While we celebrate this incredible milestone, we continue to work with our manufacturing partners on the physical components to ensure that when the final boxes do arrive at your homes, they are as polished as possible.
We’re so excited to get Rove into your hands, and we can’t wait for you to experience all the hard work that has gone into making this project a reality.
Thank you again for your incredible support – we're almost there! Stay tuned for more updates, and we’ll keep you posted on the manufacturing progress, and what comes after Rove!
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Hello There!
Mike here to give some extra details on shipping, fulfillment, and customer service.
Timeline
So what does this mean for the timeline? First, we're looking to have all manufacturing completed this month, with our pallets of games on their way to the fulfillment centers shortly thereafter. Rove is manufactured in China, and we have three fulfillment centers in Asia, Europe, and North America. The pallets need to be shipped overseas to each location, where our distributors will break them down into our individual orders and send them on their way to you! Shipping and fulfillment can take a variable amount of time, especially in today's current environment, but we would hope to see the first wave of games arriving this summer- ideally one year after the conclusion of our campaign in June 2024.
Locked Orders
All orders on Kickstarter and Backerkit are locked, and no further changes can be made, with the exception of address corrections. We still have a highly-limited amount of pre-orders available via Backerkit, so if there is some extra addon you're still looking for- there is a very narrow window to add it on before they are all gone.
We've sent out reminders, but please, check to be sure that you've filled out your survey and that your address is correct.
Customer Service
It's been tricky handling customer service as a small team, and communication has very often fallen behind as we focused our time on manufacturing our product on-schedule, which often has come at the cost of slower than desired communications.
We also had the issue of not having a clearly defined place to go for customer service requests. Between calls to our warehouse, Kickstarter private messages, Kickstarter comments, comments on updates, messages on Backerkit, emails sent to our team members, discord messages, and more, it's been confusing for both you, our backers, and Addax as we tried to keep track of the requests coming in.
To resolve this, we have set up a new, dedicated customer service email address. For all customer service requests, please send it to the following address:
This email address will be accessible by several members of our team, which will speed up the process of replying and resolving. We are also having Raul, who introduced our update today, shift towards a Community Management role to better serve our backers as we move into the final phase of fulfillment and unboxing. With this shift should come faster responses and more frequent updates, as we are no longer "all hands on deck" with the manufacturing and proofing of Rove.
Remember, our team is always a click away on Discord, where we are happy to reply to any questions you may have about Rove.
Shipping
Shipping fees should be calculated within the next 30-60 days, at which point we will reach out and inform you of any potential changes. While we were quite cautious in our initial estimates, there is always the chance of adjustments due to the amount of time that has passed since our campaign began. Once the products are in place at our distributors, we will charge cards and send the games on their merry way.
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Thank you for reading through our update! We are so very relieved to have finished production on Rove, and can't wait for you to receive your copy.
If you're looking to talk about Rove, be sure to check out our Discord. If you're specifically looking for help with your pledge, please use our new Customer Service email
February Update (Manufacturing!)
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Feb 13, 2025 at 08:51:31 AM
Hello all!
Mike from Addax Games here with a (long overdue) update.
Between the holidays, proofing & manufacturing, and the Level Up Retreat in January, our team has had a difficult time keeping up with messaging on Kickstarter, and we do sincerely apologize for our silence. We've been trying to solve any emails regarding Backerkit/Pledge issues as they come up. If you have a question or an issue with payments, Backerkit's dedicated team is quick to respond, and if you need help changing information on your pledge, you can contact our team for the fastest results.
(Did you use an Apple relay emails and can't update your pledge? Did you move recently and need to change your address? Are you unsure if your pledge went through? For issues like this, you can email [email protected] directly. Issue updating your CC info? For that, Backerkit Support is the way to go. If you just want to talk with our team about Rove's gameplay or design, head over to Discordand our designers will be happy to chat!)
While we haven't been able to post here as frequently as we would like, we do have great news: We've started manufacturing.Currently, we're working with our partners in China to proof a few final components of Rove, while other elements are completed and are now in production.
Since our last post, the major task that was in front of us was the books. Rove is a game jam-packed with story and content, and with 10 total books in our Kickstarter campaign, this has been a massive task for our writers, artists, and proofreaders to complete. Combined with the overlap of the winter holidays and Chinese New Year, it's been a challenge to get those books completed and proofed! Fortunately, we're at the very last stages of proofing on a few particularly difficult tomes while others are fully complete and have moved to the next steps in manufacturing.
Overall, we're still on target to hit our original target. The next stages of shipping and fulfillment are always going to be a bit scary as there is always some uncertainty with international shipping, but we're still very pleased with how things are progressing.
Today, I'd like to share a few updates with about the content of the books.
Codex Book
Tuor, where our next story begins...
In Rove, we have taken great care to craft a rich storyline and create a vibrant, engaging world. With over 100,000 words of storyline text for readers to enjoy, it's been a labor of love to complete our writing. Here's a quick excerpt from the start of the Xulc Expansion...
“My wondrous warriors, my salubrious saviors, my remarkable Rovers. How have you enjoyed the best Tuor has to offer?” Silky chirps, beckoning all to take a seat. You’ve traveled long enough with the elder zusag to know not to attempt to answer what is clearly a pleasantry prior to his more important sentiment. A moment of silence hangs in the air. You look at each other - perhaps he is actually awaiting a response. Clearing your throat to answer, Silky interjects;
“Wonderful, wonderful. Now, my rovers, doesn’t this feel familiar? Us all together like this again. Familiarity is a strange thing, isn’t it. A strange thing, that both soothes and blinds. To engage with the familiar too much is to dull one's senses, you see!” He taps his antlers for effect. “But, we can allow ourselves a little luxury and comfort can’t we? We relieved the land of innumerable dangers, in the way only a band of Rovers can!” The most familiar thing here is the desire to see the Zusag get to the point. “So, Rovers, I come to you with the gift of familiarity. I have a quest for you!” You all look at each other with a mix of bewilderment and pity. The poor old zusag really doesn’t want to let us go, does he?
“Now I know what you’re thinking, what quest could possibly warrant a band of Rovers again? Well, my curious companions, my dear dynamos, I have been receiving missives from my associates in the Unsouled Barrens. Unusual notes of theran activity acting wild, and I thought perhaps this is some consequence of Bazhar’s defeat by your hands, or even an attempt at resurgence. Since you’ll all be going down south together as you part ways, why not make sure we finish the job we started, ey? And I'll accompany you once more! It’ll be just like ‘old times’ as the youth say.” Painfully aware that the ‘old times’ were mere weeks ago, you reluctantly shrug. One of the last places you would like to visit again is the Unsouled Barrens, but perhaps Silky is right - it’s not worth the risk of Bazhar’s resurgence.
Campaign Book
An example spread from the Campaign Book: Quest 1, Encounter 3.
The Campaign Book is critical to playing Rove. Within this mighty tome is the core portions of the story and campaign text, introducing players to the wild and dangerous land of Chorus. We've taken great care to make the gameplay information as easily accessible as possible, with brightly color-coded boxes containing all of the information you need to set up and play through an encounter quickly. (Eagle-eyed readers might notice the "X" page references- those are all updated to guide you through the Codex in the final printed version.)
Adversary Book
An example spread from the Adversary Book. It looks like the Galeaper Queen is quite angry...
The Adversary Book has been a great opportunity for our team to showcase the incredible art of Alexandr Elichev. As you can see in the image above, while we show off the smaller versions of the art in the adversary's profiles, we have used every bit of extra space to print full-page art spreads for readers to enjoy. In the example spread above, you can see the Galeaper Queen, rearing up to defend her nest.
In terms of both playtesting and design, the two Adversary Books (Core & Expansion) require far more care and attention than normal. With over 1,400 unique adversary actions, there is a tremendous amount of information to cross-reference, input, and check by our team. However, we know how critical this book is for a proper play experience, so we have done our best to double, triple, and quadruple check all of the information in this book! We hope you enjoy the hard work the team has put into creating dozens of unique and dangerous foes to encounter as you complete your campaign!
Thank you for reading through our update! If you're looking to talk about Rove, be sure to check out our Discord. If you're specifically looking for help with your pledge, reach out to either Mike ([email protected]) or Backerkit if you have any questions.
Want to receive more frequent updates? You can find us here: Facebook Instagram Discord<- The fastest way to contact us.
🧙 The Addax Team
The BIG December Rove Update!
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Dec 05, 2024 at 12:09:45 AM
Hello!
It’s been about a month since our last update (and we’re truly sorry for the silence), but we have very good news to share with you!
We've been slow to update our Kickstarter page as our whole team is focusing their attention on completing Rove. The reason for this is that we are in the final month before we hit the big red button and begin manufacturing! This week, we have been reviewing the final proofs from our manufacturer, and are so excited to share some of them with you today, along with a variety of new updates regarding our campaign.
Wait- you’re manufacturing already? Wasn’t ROVE due to land in May 2025?
When we launched our Campaign, we set the original goal of trying to have the game completed and delivered one year after our Kickstarter concluded. In reality, we had set our own internal goal not of just matching that timeline, but actually aiming to beat it- and we’re on track to do exactly that. There are still many unknowns in the coming months, and external logistics factors that are ultimately outside of our control, but our team has worked to the best of our abilities to complete and get Rove on your game tables ahead of schedule.
When are we closing Backerkit?
We finally have an answer to our most frequently asked question: Late Pledges on Backerkit will end on December 16th, 2024. You'll be able to complete your pledges via Backerkit's site (linked below) or by visiting us this weekend at PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Please, if you have not completed your survey on Backerkit, please do so as soon as possible! Failure to fill out your survey could result in errors or delays in shipping and fulfillment.
December 16th. Any changes you made on Backerkit will be locked, and no changes can be made to order contents after this point. After locking, we will charge your cards for any game components you have added. For example, if you originally backed the Core Game on Kickstarter, and then added the Miniatures on Backerkit, we will be charging your card for the cost of the Miniatures. If you backed on Kickstarter and did not make any upgrades on Backerkit, no further charges will be processed on this date- you've already paid for Rove.
When is shipping being charged?
Once we hit the big red button and start manufacturing, the countdown begins on shipping. First, the game will be shipped from our partner’s factory to the port, where it will be loaded into cargo containers and sent to our distribution centers. Nearly all of your orders will be sent from three primary locations for distribution: China, Belgium, and the United States. Once the games arrive at our distribution centers, they will be unpacked, repacked, and prepared for shipping.
Once the games are in place and ready to ship, we will then charge your cards for any shipping fees, based upon the original shipping estimates. We will of course notify everyone before this occurs. No changes are forecast or expected regarding our shipping estimates over the coming months, but global shipping prices can fluctuate based upon unpredictable political and world events.
I've shared our estimates again below for reference. If you're not in an area listed below and are concerned about shipping costs, please send an email directly to [email protected] so that you can be connected to our logistics team.
Can I meet the Addax Team? Perhaps try out the game myself?
Sure! We’re a bunch of nerds and would like nothing more than to talk about Rove all day. You can meet part of our team at PAX Unplugged this weekend in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If that doesn’t work, the entire team from Addax Games will be present at the Level Up Retreat in New Jersey at the end of January. If all goes well, we may actually have a few early-release copies available for those interested in an exclusive sneak-peak at Level Up.
If travel over the holidays is difficult for you, we're always available on Discord and TTS.
What will the miniatures look like?
Every Rover in the campaign will undergo a transformation to a Prime Rover, and finally an Apex Rover. Based on the theme chosen for your Prime advancement, you’ll see your transition from the established beginnings of your Rover to a dramatic climax of your power at their Apex. For our preview here, the Flash has embraced their affinity for the ether of Fire (as opposed to embracing their affinity for Air) and has become an avatar of the burning fury of the stars.
Flash, Helion, and Aster
But you already knew about these… So let's show off something new just to really emphasize the fantastic work that went into making these models! New spoiler ahead! This one is a Prime Rover advancement for the True Scale.
Behold, the Fierce Ransomer.
Manufacturing Previews
While we can’t share everything, here’s a sneak peak from our latest manufacturing proofs.
New, redesigned health dials for players and bosses.
Adversary Health Tracking Boards. Placed alongside our Adversary book, these dual-layered boards allow you to track the health of even the largest swarm of enemies with dice or chits.
Adversary standees come in all shapes and sizes..
The redesigned symbols for Ether as shown on our Attack Dice.
Each of the 25 playable classes have their own unique tuckbox, keeping each of their materials organized and secret until they are opened upon leveling up!
Component Previews
To avoid spoiling too much, we’ll be looking at the Flash again and its two advanced classes found in the core box: Aster and Helion. If you’re wary of spoilers, turn back here, but otherwise we’re hoping these components help illustrate what your collection of goodies will look like as you progress through a campaign.
Skill Cards: Flash -> Helion -> Aster
Summons
While these are not materials related to Flash specifically, two of the five playable characters heavily utilize extra moving pieces on the map, and it occurred to us that we haven’t shown much of that off yet!
Exciting new tactical options: Summons and Glyphs!
The Ardorok is going to be a core part of the Dune Dancer’s overall play. Humans are empathetic and develop very deep bonds with their companions, which will be reflected through the campaign as both your character and the ardorok gain power simultaneously. The ardorok (and other companions) are represented with full standees and their own healthpools. If you’re a fan of summoner-type characters, you’ll feel right at home planning how to organize your growing menagerie.
Glyphs are central to zusag martial and mental arts. Unlike the Dune Dancer, who will be directing additional allies, the Sophist and its advanced classes produce tokens such as the Armoroll which have passive augments tied to other figures occupying the space on and around them. This leads to highly cerebral strategizing with your team on what can be done through the added effects of the various conjured glyphs in play!
Whew! That was a long one. Next up will be Book Previews, which are the final remaining task for our team as we near the finish line with Rove.
Mid-October Update
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Oct 14, 2024 at 06:25:26 PM
Hello there!
The team at Addax Games is here with another update. Things are moving along quickly as we near the end of Rove's development. This week, we've reached a new milestone- both the Core and Expansion are complete, and we've now shifted to the final stages of playtesting, editing, and proofing.
While we would love to talk about the Expansion's exciting new gameplay mechanics, terrifying new enemies, expanded player choice & consequence in our campaign system, and the threat posed by the [redacted], we're going to save that information for another update down the road.
Today we're going to be taking a look at two topics: Development & Pledge Manager.
Let's talk about Books
First, let's talk about the Quest Book. Originally, this book contained all of the encounter rules as well as the storyline text that is revealed before, during, and after each encounter. After quite a bit of testing, we have split this into a Campaign Book and a Codex. With this split, we now have the Campaign book containing the encounters and rules, and a Codex which contains all of the story information. We're also upgrading our books to be Spiral Bound, which has been the preference for both our team and our playtesters.
Why make these changes?
The first and most important reason is to make gameplay and component management easier for you, the players. As you dive into the campaign, you'll discover that some of our later scenarios can be a bit more complex, and would have required page flipping (Yuck!) to review all of the rules and storyline information. We really wanted to avoid having any page flipping in our game, as we felt this isn't enjoyable for players. With this division, we can avoid this problem, allowing you to leave the book opened up on the table as a handy encounter rules reference for your players.
The second reason is that this change also makes sense for us on the production end, as the split eliminates some graphic design challenges and concerns that we had previously with a single book.
While two books sounds more complicated than one, this change also simplifies proofing and manufacturing, allowing us to complete the game faster than before, as on-time delivery remains a core promise that we aim to keep!
Interested to see what the books look like? Here's a sneak peak provided by Tim Tesstor, the Art Director of Rove.
Let's talk about the Pledge Manager
Next, let's take a moment to quickly answer the most frequently asked questions about Rove, Kickstarter, and Backerkit.
When is the Pledge Manager closing? The short answer: Soon, so be sure to complete your pledges ASAP! The long answer is that we don't have a fixed date just yet, as there are a few remaining tasks to complete, but we are internally narrowing down the dates to a two week period between the end of October and early November. We will notify everyone repeatedly once the date is set to be sure that you're aware of the closing. As we're getting closer and closer to the start of our manufacturing, time is running out to update your final pledge for Rove.
When will my card be charged? That's tied to the question above- once we are set to close pledges, we will notify everyone and then charge for any addons that have been added to the pledge manager. Once again, we're going to give multiple notifications so there are no surprises.
What about shipping? I'm waiting to update my pledge until I see what shipping costs. If you're afraid of shipping prices increasing, have no fear- the previously listed prices are still valid. We worked hard during our campaign to get our prices for the US and EU as affordable as possible, and are happy to report that our prices have not changed. A few areas did not have clear pricing (Mexico) while others had higher pricing that we have been working to lower (New Zealand). The pricing will be posted this month, and in advance of any announcement that we are closing pledges to be sure that you have enough time to evaluate your final purchase.
I can't find my survey / Can't access Backerkit. Try using this link for Backerkit. This allows you to find your pledge. We have noticed that some emails (particularly Apple's private email relay service) can have issues, which require Backerkit customer service's intervention. They can be reached here: Customer Service.
I'd like to back, but I have questions about the game or contents. The best way to reach us is via our Discord. We're a small team, but are all always available via Rove's discord channel. Hop in, chat with us, and feel free to ask anything you'd like about Rove. We're always happy to help you out! If you're interested in learning more about the game mechanics or lore of the game, feel free to chat with Raul about virtual playtesting, or Charles about editing and proofreading.
When are you planning to deliver? We're aiming for our originally promised date, 1 year from the conclusion of our Kickstarter: May 2025. After months and months of hard work, we can't wait to get Rove into your hands and onto your gaming tables!
That's all for today! Thank you so much for joining us on this adventure.
So what does "Proofing" mean anyway? 
