Back

ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer

Slide six module cards into the right pattern to escape a crash-landing, solo and in about fifteen minutes.

You are a ROVE, a Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer, used to surveying the fringes of space, and now you have crash-landed on an unfamiliar planet. To get to safety you need to rearrange your reusable modules. ROVE is a solo spatial puzzle game: each game throws a series of mishaps at you, and each can only be solved by arranging your six module cards in a specific pattern. Moving a module costs Movement Points, which you earn by discarding cards from your hand, and you get extra if your current layout matches the pattern on the discarded card. Every module moves in its own way, such as diagonally only or by pushing others, and each has a powerful single-use ability. About fifteen minutes of tidy brain work for one.

Six module cards with different movement stylesDiscard cards for Movement PointsSingle-use abilities for tight spots

Who it's for

You want a compact solo puzzle on a grid with space-explorer flavor, something to play by yourself in a short break.

Not for you if…

You want a game for several people. ROVE is built for one player only.

Vibe's take

Quiet, tidy and satisfying. You shuffle modules around, count points, find the one cheap line through the mess and feel quite clever when it works.

#1,335 on BGG

of over 30,000 ranked board games

Published 2021 · 5 years ago

newer than 63% of games

In 7,941 collections

collected more than 74% of games

1 players · ages 10+

Best with 1 · publisher: 8+

about 15 min

shorter than 93% of games · typical 30–90 min

Complexity: medium

One warm-up round · 2.0 out of 5 · lighter than 56%

Opinions: broad agreement

Most people rate it similarly

Language: little text

A few terms, easy to look up

Play style: competitive · solo too