Roving Rovers is an immersive space survival game that places players in command of lunar exploration, tasking them with establishing a functional base through the use of remotely controlled rovers. The game’s premise centers on navigating authentic lunar environemnts, where players must balance critical factors like speed, power, and maneuverability to conquer the harsh lunar landscape. Beyond its technical depth, the experience is designed to be engaging and fun, translating advanced space industry concepts into an accessible, interactive format that captures the imagination of players. the game provides a sense of accomplishment and excitement as players solve challenges that have historically tested even seasoned professionals.

The Client

As a collaborative outreach project, Roving Rovers serves as a cornerstone for the Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources (ATCSR) to foster STEM workforce development through active school engagement. As our client and with this project, ATCSR has reached over 1000 South Australian students aged 6–16 through the game, paid workshops and interactive analogs at events like the Australian Rover Challenge. These sessions, such as the "Race Off! Big Rover Rally," empower students to work in teams to design custom rovers, enhancing their self-efficacy and analytical thinking. By providing direct exposure to industry experts and real-world engineering hurdles, the project bridges the gap between the classroom and future career pathways in the burgeoning space and defense sectors.

My Role

Lead Game Designer
Lead Producer

In my dual capacity as Lead Designer and Lead Producer for Roving Rovers, I operate at the intersection of creative vision and commercial sustainability.

From a design perspective, I am the primary vision holder for the user experience, ensuring that our accurate portrayal of the lunar remains engaging and fun while maintaining verisimilitude for scientificly inclinded players. I've led the design for the core rover customization systems, narrative scenarios, and the transition of the project into a production-quality release that has already seen over 10,000 installs on Steam.

Simultaneously, as the lead on business development, I serve as the strategic bridge between our studio and the high-level stakeholders necessary for the project's survival. My contributions focus on three core pillars: strategic partnerships, capital acquisition, and fiscal stewardship. I manage the long-term collaboration with the Adelaide University’s Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources (ATCSR) and spearhead the nationwide transition to new university partners, such as Monash and Flinders, to ensure the project’s future sustainability.

My role in investment involves pitching to global publishers and private equity networks—including Brisbane Angels and Melbourne Angels—and I have successfully secured capital contributions and formal partnerships with firms like Huddle Co to scale our operations. Additionally, I provide oversight of the project by tracking the over 3,300 development hours needed to establish the IP. Its value now exceeds $880,000, all while balancing the complex requirements of government grant frameworks with our commercial revenue targets.

Lessons Learned

Bootstrapping a project

Roving Rovers is a complex mix of competing priorities. Our clients want a project that convincves students to undertake STEM subjects in tertiary education. We need to create a worthy game that is engaging and fun. The project requires financing in order to continue achieving its goals. Juggling these priorities is a full time undertaking with very little room for mistakes. Over the years, I have found that losing sight of any one of these goals at any point has cascading problems, so I have learned to stay nimble and multi task on any given day, switching from Production to development with short breaks between.