The Drifter
Genres: Mystery, Point & Click, Thriller, Adventure
Play modes: singleplayer
Release Date: 17-7-2025
Developer: Powerhoof
Our verdict
9/10
- Difficulty: Medium
- Players: 1
- Playtime: 8–10 h
The Drifter is a pixel-art point-and-click thriller from Powerhoof. You play Mick Carter, a drifter who witnesses a murder in his old home town, is drowned, and snaps back into his body seconds before dying. From there a pulpy conspiracy of shadowy corporations and sci-fi twists unfolds over a single tight campaign. It suits solo players who grew up on LucasArts and Sierra adventures, and newcomers who want a story-led entry point.
Players rate it among the best modern adventure games. The full voice cast, with Adrian Vaughan as Mick, the dark synth score and the chunky pixel art get near-universal praise. Puzzles are grounded and mostly logical, and failure is handled in a novel way rather than as a dead end. Twin-stick controller support also makes it comfortable on the couch.
A few reviewers still hit classic genre friction: a spot or two per chapter where you try every item on everything, or where Mick has to catch up with something you already worked out. There is also some gore. Most finish in eight to ten hours. If you like point-and-click games at all, this is an easy recommendation even at full price.
Pros
- Gripping pulp thriller plot with a strong Australian voice cast
- Grounded, mostly logical puzzles with a fresh take on failure
- Twin-stick controls make it work well on a gamepad
Cons
- Occasional try-everything moments, as in classic point-and-clicks
- Mick sometimes lags behind deductions the player already made
- Moderate gore and grindhouse tone will not suit everyone
About
A 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.
