Rove preview play and impressions

Mike plays this upcoming adventure dungeon crawler/battle game, and gives his thoughts on the play so far.
Crowdfunding link - www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
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Patreon - / onestop
Podcast - / onestopcoopshop
Discord - / discord
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0:00 - Introduction
0:33 - Game overview
4:21 - Shadow Piercer turn
9:24 - True Scale turn and enemy activation
13:45 - Round 2
21:14 - Round 3
27:41 - Round 4
31:39 - Round 5
35:26 - Impressions
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"Music from Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com)"

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Crowdfunding link - www.kickstarter.com/projects/addaxgames/rove 0:00 - Introduction 0:33 - Game overview 4:21 - Shadow Piercer turn 9:24 - True Scale turn and enemy activation 13:45 - Round 2 21:14 - Round 3 27:41 - Round 4 31:39 - Round 5 35:26 - Impressions

[@drasher25]

This looks very cool. Very Gloomgaven, but without the card depletion mechanism that I dislike from that game. Good on them for using standees. I am just out of space for minifests.

[@BlakeAustin2011]

For folks that aren’t aware, the creator of Rove is the same that developed The Crimson Scales, a fully fleshed out home brew of Gloomhaven with brand new classes and some new enemies, completely new stories (plural), and actually raised enough funding to have an initial printing. It’s currently free on Tabletop Simulator as the creator is no longer supporting the game’s further development. Regarding class changes, the cadence seems wonky. The first change seemingly happens early in the campaign, and you play the majority of the game as this middle revolution. Then close to the end you change again to your final evolution (the creator confirmed its very much like Pokemon in that regard). He did state if you buy the expansion, you get to play in the final form for a longer period, almost equaling the middle form. Apologies for long post, but question for Mike: are you concerned about 3 enemies being the most any scenario can have if using only 1 page from 1 book? Or on the flip side, are there scenarios with multiple pages of enemies that adds variety but sucks up table space?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I’m fine with fewer enemies as long as they are fairly unique. Having 5-10 types of enemies at once doesn’t seem like a plus to me in this kind of game 😅😅

[@BlakeAustin2011]

@@OneStopCoopShop I think that’s my worry is the potential across 5 scenarios of seeing 4-5 unique enemies only. That would get stale fast. Great play through! I really want this game, but I’m limiting myself to 1 a year. Vrahode is currently leading the way with the October Kickstarter.

[@SpoonyBard88]

​@@OneStopCoopShopagreed. The most annoying Frosthaven missions were the ones with too many enemy types. Or, well, the ones completely unbalanced to two players.

[@ryangilmore3678]

Been following this one for awhile. I'm aware of the creator's love for the 'Haven games. It's actually surprising how much the game has changed from the early images from way back. The fact he went with dice is boarderline shocking! As a lover of Haven, this game is high on my list. But it does seem to be doing a lot differently, which is probably a good move. Should stand on it's on. Backed!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Agreed! It was better than I expected it to be, and it feels like it's making its very own niche, despite some small similarities to GH

[@ChrysalisUganda]

Disappointed to hear that even the Kickstarter has a while before it finishes, so it's a long way before we will see it. Also, it's in the hundreds of dollars, so out of my price range. I watched the whole of Paul Grogan's playthrough and your comment about it being swingy is very true, as Paul and his gamer-friend really struggled with the next scenario, while you just mashed Scenario 1. We need more games like these, which perhaps build on the gaming concepts of Gloomhaven and twist them into something even better. Would love to see the way the characters develop and perhaps a more advanced scenario from you or the Meet me at the Table guys.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

They didn’t have the advanced classes in my prototype sadly to try out. And can’t do anymore videos. Like most of these previews, I already shipped the box on

[@kabula-strangergamesstudio1834]

The gloomhaven-y art didn't really pull me in, but the monster activation seems great, I'll definitely check the campaign!

[@mart97829]

Hey Mike. Great play through. Is this true solo or do you have to control multiple Rovers? If multiple, how was controlling 2 characters as it seem hard to look at, control and strategise with so many ‘complex’ cards in the pool?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

You do indeed control 2 characters minimum, and yeah, they have a lot of cards to check. That said, I found it pretty straightforward to resolve one character's turn at a time, and not worry too much about the other character.

[@beerman2000]

I've been patiently waiting for this to FINALLY hit KS. It definitely looks interesting. On a side note (and the REAL reason for this comment) Flame & Fang delivered in Oregon yesterday so I'm learning and playing it today. 😊

[@OneStopCoopShop]

YAY! Have fun being a dragon ;)

[@miramarto]

Tell me it's inspired by Gloomhaven without telling me it's inspired by Gloomhaven, haha! It looks just as flashy but not as brain-burny. I think I'm going to back this one. How quick is the setup compared to OG Gloomhaven?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

MUCH faster because: 1 - You don't have to find tons of tiles and terrain to set up, it's all in the book, Jaws of the Lion style. 2 - The enemy behavior and activation is right in the enemy book, so you don't have to sort through a billion decks of cards to find the right ones (though to be fair the various Gloomhaven support apps can help with that part).

[@LuisCunha-uq8pn]

How do you rate the Map Book paper quality? It looks like very thin paper and can curl.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I wouldn’t rate it, because this is a prototype and not representative of the final game. I don’t know what the quality will be like

[@SeanUCF]

Hey Mike, I know this and Children of Morta aren't exactly an apples to apples comparison, but they do share some similarities with how you activate abilities who's effectiveness is determined by die rolling, so I'm curious which one you enjoyed more and had more fun with.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I’d say Rove, at its current state of development, is more engaging and tactically satisfying. But children of morta is continuing to be developed, so who knows?

[@joaopreto24]

Hi, I have gloomhaven and frosthaven.. do I need this?! It's more of the same, or is it something completely new? Thanks.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I found it quite different in many ways. But what did you think after watching the video?

[@joaopreto24]

The game features enough different mechanics to feel refreshing, but ultimately, it feels like Gloomhaven in a different way. It's like the 7th continent and the 7th citadel. They're different, but they're the same. I didn't want to buy a game and feel like I was playing something I was already tired of playing. I don't like the mechanics of the enemies' actions, I feel like I would always be pressured not to take risks because I knew in advance what they were going to do. My conclusion is that frosthaven is a 1.2 version, this looks like a 1.6.

[@pegwin7743]

So here’s the question: what are the reasons in your mind to play this game instead of a ‘Haven? Instead of a Red Dragon Inn?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Instead of a Haven would be because it has faster setup, cooler leveling potentially with the class ups, and more predictable enemy activation Personally I’d rather play red dragon inn than either one, cause that’s still my favorite combat crawler

[@Theplaysthet]

⁠@@OneStopCoopShopI stopped playing Red Dragon inn for a few months and got back into it and forgot how GOOOOOd it is. I agree with you it’s one of the best dungeon crawlers!

[@ObeliskM]

Looks much like Gloomhaven.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

This is from the team that made the fan Gloomhaven campaign Crimson Sands, so yeah, they were clearly inspired, though it's doing a lot of its own things

[@alex8480]

​​@OneStopCoopShop Crimson Scales* Thanks for doing this vid! Can't wait to see how the campaign goes

[@jupiterloner999]

Ouch... This makes me on the fence...

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Happy to help out either way ;)

[@mixterdee]

Looks fun, but that board is triggering my Trypophobia.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I had to look that up, but I get it now :)

[@Kentchangar]

Your playthrough is way better then Grogan's. The game looks more interesting from watching your video. I'm still not sure about the depth, especially compared to Gloomhaven (the obligatory comparison :)).

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Yeah, I don’t think it quite matches the GH crunchiness, but I also prefer a lot here, like the more predictable enemy activations

[@Kentchangar]

@@OneStopCoopShop Crunchiness wise: what games would you copare it to. I agree about the enemy predictability. It's cool compared to Gloomhaven. You can clearly see what they disliked about GH and changed it here And as a hater of dice, this die isn't that bad, but you're rolling it too much. It feels unfun to roll a die which goes from -1 to +1 damage over and over and over.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

@Kentchangar it’s maybe Oathsworn level, or a bit simpler (without the cooldown mechanic). And yeah, dice get rolled a lot, and you gotta check every time which colors they like and don’t 😅

[@GamingRulesVideos]

Sorry you didn't like my playthrough. We enjoyed it and felt it captured the game well :)

[@Kentchangar]

@@GamingRulesVideos I didn't say it was bad, I said Mike's was better. 1st person is always better. :)

[@JoostN86]

Gloomhaven/Frosthaven lawsuit incoming in 3... 2... 1...

[@OneStopCoopShop]

This company has close ties to Cephalophair. Isaac (the designer of Gloomhaven) has an endorsement on the campaign page. So I don't think there will be any lawsuits, lol