“You ever wake up from death with someone else’s blood on your hands?”
That’s the kind of question The Drifter opens with — and it only gets weirder, darker, and more compelling from there. Developed by Powerhoof, the same team behind Crawl, this narrative-driven sci-fi horror adventure is a love letter to the golden era of pixel-art point-and-click games, with modern storytelling and unsettling twists baked in.
Story & Setting: Where Am I, and Who’s After Me?
You play as Mick Carter, a rough-around-the-edges drifter who’s just trying to get home when he witnesses a murder… and suddenly becomes the victim himself. Moments later, he wakes up alive — covered in blood, confused, and hunted by forces far beyond what he understands.
The game’s narrative takes you down a rabbit hole of government conspiracies, mind control, time fractures, and existential horror.
The writing is tight, smart, and never overstays its welcome. Dialogue is voiced, well-paced, and has that Aussie noir grit that sets it apart from other indie adventures.
Gameplay: Point, Click, Panic
The Drifter follows the classic point-and-click structure, but it’s built for a modern audience:
- No pixel hunting
- No “combine everything with everything” guesswork
- Puzzles are clever and intuitive, often story-driven
- Interactions feel natural, with tools and clues embedded in dialogue and environments
This isn’t a game about collecting rubber chickens — it’s about solving a creeping mystery, piecing together fragments of memory, and sometimes running for your life.
Some moments turn from point-and-click to near-horror escape sequences, keeping tension high without straying from the genre’s roots.
Visuals: Pixel Art With Power
The Drifter’s art style is low-res pixel art, but it’s incredibly effective. Characters are expressive, backgrounds are grimy and atmospheric, and the animation has real weight.
Whether you’re in a dark alley, neon-lit diner, or waking up in a government lab, the world feels lived-in and full of secrets. It channels the mood of Blade Runner and They Live — but filtered through 80s adventure game aesthetics.
Sound & Voice Acting
The soundtrack is subtle but moody — ambient synth tones that swell when tension rises. But it’s the voice acting that really shines. Every character is fully voiced (rare for an indie game), and the performances range from dry sarcasm to raw panic.
Mick’s internal monologue adds a lot of flavor, helping players stay grounded as the story becomes more surreal.
Length & Pacing
You can complete The Drifter in about 3 to 5 hours, depending on how deeply you explore. It’s a tight, focused experience — no padding, no fetch quests, just pure narrative progression.
For players used to 30-hour open worlds, that might seem short — but this is a well-crafted short story, not a saga. And like the best short stories, it leaves an impact.
Final Verdict – Should You Play The Drifter?
If you’re a fan of narrative thrillers, retro adventure games, or sci-fi horror with a psychological edge, The Drifter is an absolute gem. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it doesn’t waste your time — it tells a complete, gripping story, and lets you live inside it for just long enough to feel shaken.
System Requierments
Minimum:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 or later, 64-bit versions only
Processor: X64 architecture with SSE2 instruction set support
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: DX10, DX11, and DX12-capable GPUs
DirectX: Version 10
Storage: 4 GB available space
What Did You Think?
Have you played The Drifter?
Drop your favorite moment — or your wildest theory — in the comments below!
And don’t forget to check out our other indie reviews like Neon Abyss 2 and Hunter x Hunter: Nen Impact