The Drifter review

Introduction

The Drifter opens with Mick Carter drowning in a reservoir, seconds after witnessing a murder and finding himself hunted by hi-tech soldiers, then resurrects him to unravel exactly how he got there. Developed and published by Powerhoof, the studio behind Crawl and Peridium, it released 17 July 2025 to an "Overwhelmingly Positive" reception: 3,527 of its 3,614 English-language reviews recommend it, a sample of which this review reads

100. Five years after its demo first appeared at Steam Next Fest, the finished game

lands as one of the most acclaimed point-and-click adventures this review series has covered, with reviewer after reviewer reaching for the same comparison: this is what a modern LucasArts adventure looks like.

Puzzles that finally break the genre's oldest bad habit

The single most consistent praise in the sample targets puzzle logic. One reviewer, self-identified as coming from "the old school Sierra LucasArts generation," calls it "one of the single best adventure point and click puzzlers" they've played precisely because the puzzles are "reasonably difficult" without resorting to "completely silly" solutions. Another reviewer, admitting they've "hated point-n-clicks for decades" because of "crappy puzzles," says The Drifter won them over entirely. A more detailed review credits the design with never breaking "the very strong story" for the sake of a contrived combination, noting there's "no pointless 'combine a rubber glove with a watering can'" logic anywhere in the campaign.

A pace reviewers say reinvents the genre's rhythm

Nearly as common is praise for how fast the game moves. One reviewer calls it "the Doom/Half-Life of point and click adventures," arguing it "tries to drag the genre kicking and screaming into the future" through sheer momentum. Another describes the game as "a masterclass in pacing," noting they'd "never felt this sense of urgency in a point and click adventure before." This isn't universal enthusiasm for speed over craft, however: several reviewers specifically credit the pacing with making a genre they normally find "slow and sluggish" feel urgent and propulsive instead, a rare achievement for an adventure game built on investigation and backtracking.

Presentation the sample calls some of the genre's best

Voice acting and audio draw outsized praise throughout the sample, with reviewers repeatedly highlighting the game's Australian cast as a distinctive, memorable choice. One reviewer simply writes "10/10 music 10/10 voice acting 10/10 plot," while another calls the dark-synth score "a synth-soaked fever dream (in the best way)" alongside "killer" sound design. The pixel art draws similarly consistent enthusiasm, described by one reviewer as work they'd "insta-buy anything from this developer" for, and by another as combining "crunchy pixel art" with "high-impact animation" that elevates otherwise simple scenes into something cinematic.

A backlash over where the story goes from chapter five

Not every reviewer stays won over for the full runtime. One critical review notes the game "starts promising" and its first four chapters "corroborate the good reviews," but argues that "from chapter five onwards, the story spirals downwards" into something less focused. Another more blunt critical review calls the back half "an uninspiring, convoluted sci-fi blob" that "falls completely flat by the end." A related complaint targets a specific structural choice: multiple reviewers flag "time-sensitive death scenes" introduced around chapter four that force restarts on failure, a jarring shift for a genre most players approach at their own unhurried pace. These criticisms sit alongside overwhelming praise elsewhere in the sample, suggesting a story that lands powerfully for most players while genuinely losing a smaller group somewhere in its back half.

What the achievement data shows

The Drifter's 18 tracked achievements track cleanly against its eight-chapter structure, declining steadily from 87.4 percent after Chapter 1 to 49.2 percent by Chapter 8, with the game's ending achievement sitting at 47.5 percent. That figure is unusually high for a narrative adventure game, and the sample notices: one reviewer specifically remarks that finishing the game put them in the top 44 percent of players by Steam's own tracking, calling it surprising "because adventure games typically have crazy low completion percentages well-under 20 percent." Beyond the main story, optional achievements tied to specific choices and secrets fall much further, with the rarest sitting at just 2.8 percent, reflecting content most players never stumble into during a single playthrough.

Wide platform support and solid Steam Deck performance

Beyond Windows, The Drifter ships with native macOS and Linux support, a rarer commitment for an indie release of this scope, and the sample backs up the technical work behind it. One reviewer specifically calls out the game as "truly a fantastic point and click adventure" that also "works great on the SteamDeck," while another praises how well "controls on steam deck" hold up for a genre historically built around mouse-driven interfaces. The twin-stick controller scheme designed for couch play extends that accessibility further, with several reviewers noting it's the rare point-and-click they'd happily recommend playing with a gamepad rather than a mouse.

Value

At NZ$28.99 for a single playthrough most reviewers finish in eight to ten hours, The Drifter sits at a fair, unremarkable price point for the genre, and the sample raises value concerns far less often than praise for what's actually in the box. One reviewer calls it "solid for the price" after a 9.4-hour completion, a sentiment echoed broadly across the sample; the game's low replayability, given its fixed, linear puzzle solutions, means its value is best measured against a single complete experience rather than repeat playthroughs, but few reviewers seem to mind given how strongly that single playthrough lands.

Final Verdict

The Drifter is a genuinely exceptional point-and-click adventure that earns comparisons to the genre's LucasArts-era golden age through fair, logical puzzle design, a breakneck pace, and outstanding voice acting and presentation. A real, if minority, backlash against its later chapters and a couple of jarring timed-death sequences keep it from a completely unanimous reception, but for adventure fans and newcomers alike, this is one of the standout releases of 2025 and a strong argument that the genre still has room to reinvent itself.