(Pops up out of the ground like a ground hog.)

Ha! You thought there would be a newsletter here, but since it wasn't emailed to anyone, I don't think it technically counts as a newsletter!

...but... if it's not a newsletter... what should we call it...?

Ah! Of course! The Trove Times!

Also, if you're viewing this on the date it comes out, then keep in mind that the only really functional link on this website is this one because I have a nasty habit of procrastinating.

...

Anyways! News time!

Happy Valentines Day '26!

The birds are singing... flowers are blooming... [Hyperlink Blocked] is in the air!

Here are some Valentines for your special someone, featuring some familiar, and some not-so-familiar characters! (Warning: Most of these you probably should not give to your crush unless you want them to begin avoiding you.)

Get'cher Valentines Here!

SPECIL EMENY's Release

Woo! First ROSY-TROVE side game! While it's not 100% finished, I'm satisfied with it for what it is for the immediate future.

Originally, I was planning on holding a community event in the ROSYVERSE Discord Server to drum up new members and potentially find some spriters to volunteer, and as such I wanted to make a promo for it. I figured Rosy would be a decent character to do that given she was kind of ROSY-TROVE's mascot, like how Flowey is UNDERTALE's mascot.

Eventually, some way into making that, I realized that instead of doing that I should instead make a smaller game to promo my bigger game to give people a bit of my vision, and thusly SPECIL EMENY was born.

I didn't really plan a whole lot of things ahead, and I just kind of wanted to make a creepy game for Halloween, and I think it shows.

Rosy, for context, is a character you ironically only get small doses of in ROSY-TROVE proper, and even then I believed her to be a polarizing and difficult character to write well, even for me, her creator.

So, naturally, I decided a good idea would be for my first fangame to feature nearly exclusively her, where she just shows up and fights Kris.

Yeah. There's definitely gonna be some road bumps there, haha.

As I said, I'm still proud of it for what it was. I've seen others make things I believe to be worse, and better as their first try. It certainly could've been much worse, and I've had plenty of community members, and my small but powerful QA team around to help report bugs for me, and for that I appreciate you all!

If you still haven't yet and want to play it for yourself, follow this link!

T4ST3 TH3 2UN Progress Report

Unfortunately, I don't yet have any gameplay to share of T4ST3 TH3 2UN. I completely underestimated how much time even just planning and writing would take. Though I'm still somewhat confident I can get it done before Toby finishes Chapter 5.

What I do have is some pictures! You like pictures, right?!

Also, some work in progress songs! Both coincidentally Spamton related.

Bluesky Q&A

I asked you for your ROSY-TROVE questions on Bluesky, and you delivered! Now it's time for me (The Stranger) to supply the answers.

Q: on a scale from 1 to >w<, how silly is it gonna be
A: In regards to goofs and gaffes, expect slightly less than DELTARUNE. It definitely depends on the Dark World, though.

Q: In terms of difficulty, how hard would u say the game is gonna be?
A: Most of the difficult parts are going to be optional, much like DELTARUNE itself. Keep in mind a lot of the side-content being released are things like secret bosses and challenge encounters. Also, if you do side content (to use DELTARUNE as an example again: like the Shadow Mantle) some challenging encounters will be easier. We can't see it being any more difficult than DELTARUNE itself for a normal non-secrets playthrough.

Q: Are there gonna be any non-DR references / easter eggs in ROSY-TROVE?
A: Yes! Though, originally, references to UT/DR YouTubers and such would've been included, but, after the situation with a certain prominent speedrunner, no references to any community members I don't personally know and vouch for will be included.

Q: Is there any chance of an Undertale reference boss (ex: Omega Rosy, or Riley the Undying)?
A: I personally view that as more along the lines of something that would be in DELTARUNE proper, or for Swap AUs to wrestle with. At the end of the day, as a creative work, ROSY-TROVE is trying to be something different, and, too many moments or things like that would feel like ROSY-TROVE's just trying to do UNDERTALE again.

That being said, there is one thing like this in the whole game, but it isn't for UNDERTALE, and, it may get removed depending on what happens with UNDERTALE Yellow's in-the-works update.

Q: will the game be in chapters like deltarune or will it be one thing?
A: The game will come in chunks, but not in the form of "Chapters."

ROSY-TROVE really can't be "Chapters" because some content you'll be able to do in different orders. Updates will be as small as tiny events, tweaks, and patches, and as big as a whole new Dark World.

Q: How long are you expecting the full game to be?
A: Each Dark World will be at least the length of DELTARUNE Chapter 1, so, somewhere around 24 hours, though that will vary wildly depending on the amount of side-content you do.

Q: How has it been making it? How're ya feeling about it and the process?
A: Honestly, besides writing and music, not a whole lot of "making" has happened yet besides these side-games, and yet it's already changed my life.

In regards to my limited experience in the "making" part of both the main game and these side games, I've learned a lot, and continue to learn a lot.

Q: Can you date Sans in ROSY-TROVE?
A: The answer is here. Listen to the lyrics. They will teach you how to fly.

If you have any more questions, consult the GameJolt Q&A, or wait for another newsletter, I guess! :P

ROSY-TROVE Progress Report

This section is the most awkward because... there hasn't really been much progress besides writing and music because of these side-games.

But! I do come bearing gifts. Here are two WIP tracks from ROSY-TROVE proper! Only short previews were available before! These are much more complete! Slurp 'em up!

The reason why I'm electing to do these side-games instead of working on the main game is because I don't really have the skills to do something like ROSY-TROVE on my own, and I need more manpower (and womanpower, and nonbinarypower.)

Rest assured: recruitment will ramp up fully once T4ST3 TH3 2UN is done! It was going to be ramped up after SPECIL EMENY, but I felt wrong begging people to join the project when it's "promo game" was clearly pretty flawed.

Closing Thoughts

2025 was a hell of a year for me and my UT/DR projects, and I have everyone to thank for that, including you reading this right now!

Here's to the next "newsletter," probably dropping really close to Chapter 5's release, or very soon after it.

Or maybe something else in-between. You never know!

(Recedes back into the Earth.)