A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

- Chapter 1 Demo -

A Pulp Adventure Thriller - A murdered drifter awakens. Alive again, seconds before his death. Hunted and haunted, help him untangle a mad web of conspiracy in this fast-paced point 'n click thrill-ride.

Play Chapter 1 here on Itch...


Then check out the full game on Steam!


- LAUNCHES JULY 17 -


  • Pulp Adventure Thriller from the minds that brought you Peridium and Crawl.
  • An engrossing roller-coaster of a story- Drawing on King, Crichton and Carpenter, with a dash of 70s Aussie grindhouse.
  • Point 'n Click or Controller- Unique twin-stick controls make The Drifter as comfy to play on the couch as at your PC.
  • Bursting with raw crunchy pixel art and high-impact animation.
  • Professionally voice acted, with a brooding dark-synth cinematic score.

Mick Carter's been drifting a while now- moving from job to job, never staying one place long. Jumping a box-car to his old home town, he witnesses a violent murder, is pursued by hi-tech soldiers, thrown in a reservoir and drowned.

And that's just the start of Mick's problems.

His consciousness ripped away, thrust back into his own body seconds before his death...

Framed for the killing he witnessed, tormented by his own past, and haunted by the feeling that something followed him back from the other side...

Follow Mick as he's sucked headfirst into a lunatic web of shadowy corporations, murder, and the thousand-year obsession of a madman.

The Drifter is our take on a classic 2d point and click adventure, with the brake-lines cut. The focus is on fast-paced storytelling, with puzzle-solving being the glue that ties it together. Mick's a practical guy, and so puzzles are down-to-earth too, designed to be unobtrusive, and give an investigative feel.

We're keeping the pacing quick and lean, you'll never be wandering around lost or confused- Mick is propelled through the story at a good clip, from one situation to another, with barely a moment to catch his breath. One minute you'll be crafting a Molotov cocktail from a bottle of over-proof rum, the next interrogating a crooked neurosurgeon before swinging from a high-rise window by a fraying extension lead.

Updated 9 hours ago
Published 21 days ago
StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(35 total ratings)
AuthorPowerhoof
GenreAdventure
Made withUnity
TagsHorror, No AI, Point & Click, Sci-fi, Thriller
Average sessionAbout a half-hour
LanguagesGerman, English
InputsMouse, Xbox controller, Gamepad (any)
AccessibilitySubtitles
LinksSteam

Download

Download
the-drifter-demo-windows.zip 338 MB
Version demo 0.12 20 days ago
Download
the-drifter-demo-osx.zip 348 MB
Version demo 0.12 20 days ago
Download
the-drifter-demo-linux.zip 353 MB
Version demo 0.12 20 days ago

Development log

Comments

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WHAT A GAME

incrivel mano is fine

(2 edits)

I have really enjoyed the demo! Great visuals, story, voice acting, music, gameplay. Looking forward to the game! Wishlisted!

(1 edit)

What do you mean by "unique twin stick controls"?
Does that mean the game uses both WASD and mouse movement?

You can use either mouse, or a gamepad. Gamepad has left stick to walk, and right stick is a radial menu around the character to look around (like you do with the mouse)

Great game and story! Loved the voice acting!!

(+1)

Great vibes, cool hook. Wishlisted. Good luck!

(+2)

This is awesome! Cannot wait for the full release!

(+1)

Amazing game. I usually don't play point-and-click games but the interactions were interesting and creative. The art is immersive and intense! I added it to my wishlist, I hope I can see more soon. I'm providing free Korean translation as a hobbyist translator, so let me know if I can be any help.

(+1)

this is so cool

(+1)

keep on man 

(3 edits) (+1)

Really good game.Wishlisted it on steam and cant wait for full release.

(+1)

it was such a good game, games like these are so hard to commentate over bcs nothing ill say is more interesting than the game 

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I haven't played this but it looks dope. I love games that don't follow some of the industry slop that most devs sadly feel like they have to follow.

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Amazing, just saw the trailer and it's straight to the wishlist

(+1)

Very cool game. Love the visuals, dialogues and plot. 

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This was so fantastic and I cannot wait for the full release! Really one of the best demos I have seen in a long time! Amazing job!

(+1)

Played through the first chapter and almost cried when it was over lol. I was having a GOOD time playing this one. The mood is perfect, and the art style is just all sorts of nostalgic for me. I'm so excited to see more modern point and click games coming out! INSTANT wishlist for me. 

(+1)

Love this so much. Both the trailer and demo were top-notch. Definitely getting this when it comes out.

(+1)

Animation & PixelArt are top-notch !

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I'm really excited for the full game to come out, mostly because I recognized the voice actor from Peridium, also I watch Markiplier so that's where I kind of have a nostalgic feeling I guess. Anyways can't wait for the game. Love it!

 

my kinda game! very excited to play when it releases; however Dev, i had issues with items auto selecting which made the last scene tricky for me. hope to see that resolved in the full game. can't wait to play!
(+1)

Amazing pixel art!

(+1)

Nice demo! Interesting story.


(+1)

So excited for release Powerhoof. Keep up the great work

(+2)

Been keen for this since sxsw '23, from the art to the writing every part of this game is packed with atmosphere, truly a game you can sink your teeth into!

(+2)

I've been waiting to get my hands on a playable demo of this, thank you so much!

Do you think it is possible to see the game being eventually localised to French? I would love to help, if that is something you would be interested in!

In the meantime, hold tight until the release and congrats in advance <3

(+2)

I played the demo on my channel I love the art style and the fact that it's fully voice acted story seems interested can't wait for the full game

on mac the demo can't be opened. Finder says the app is damaged.

Yeah the app isn't notarised for the DRM free (non-steam) version, I'm not a Mac user but I think you have to change some setting to be able to play un-notarised apps.

(+1)

ok I'll find out and I'll report back so others can use it too. Thanks. Really looking forward to testing the Drifter finally. It looks amazing. 

Let me know if you figure this out! I had the same issue, but have been able to play other Itch games on Mac before.

I never got it to work. Will try on my windows machine this week.

(+2)

It's probably not damaged. Most likely that's an Apple thing to get devs to pay a 100$ fee and get their app 'notarized'.

If you trust the dev, there are ways to bypass this, but it depends on your system version, if you look up the error message online you'll find tutos on how to do it.

(+1)

I loved the demo when I played it on Steam! Can't wait for the full release!

(+1)

Really looking forward to this one!

(+1)

So excited for this release!

(+2)

Holy shit! It's finally happening!!!

(+1)

Ikr!!