Nova Drift

my favorite offline game. many many hours spent doing nothing on steam deck playing this. the 80+ hours is just what steam recorded when i've been online.

the controls are not intuive with controller the ship re-entry onto the screen is frustrating it doesnt point in the direction of the action going on in the game making combat more frustrating.
the game is fun minus my gripes

Fast and fun with a vast diversity of viable interesting builds to discover, it's hard not to recommend Nova Drift if you're into asteroids-esque movement.

Amazing game if you like the retro asteroids-esc gameplay in a much more modern graphics style and Rogue gameplay. Would highly recommend!

Great game, offers long playtime, not too hard or too easy, uinque controls and can be rebound easly if you dont like the default keybinds

Awesome rogue-like with an asteroids-like field, but incredible controls, cool weapons, and many, many different strategies that require different play styles.

Nova Drift represents the best and brightest of indie roguelikes, marrying it with the asteroids formula in a refreshing and surprising way. I can't recommend it enough!

This is my favorite game of all time, and I basically just play the same few options over and over. Haven't even tried half of the Ship types and I usually go Assault and Amp, then get the Ataraxia mod asap and only upgrade when It starts getting hairy.

Nova Drift is an amazing game it has alot of replayablility and the builds are incredible/

The best rogue-like shooter bar none. Definitely worth your money and time if you have ever enjoyed top down shooters and or rogue-like mechanics.
The build diversity is so large it is silly!
You won't be disappointed!

It has less content/diversity than Vampire Survivors or Brotato, yet it's more expensive.
The upgrades are minimal but numerous, the runs are all converging towards "glass cannon" style of fighting since the armor side of things falls off hard after a few waves.
For some reason, the devs thought that the space ship must have inertia. Why? Realism? You're shooting crabs in space ffs. Some of that control is given back in the form of upgrades for your ship, it still feels bad to try to control the ship in the bullet hell of later waves.
All in all: it's a 6-7Euro game sold for much more than that. Buy Vampire Survivors and/or Brotato and wait for this to go on sale.

Um, this is one of my favorite games of all time. It's a good thing he's not still adding to it because I might not ever play anything else. I'm from the Atari/arcade generation, and I tell you, this is one of the great games. I don't mean of this era or of this type or of this theme or category or w/e. No, I mean that this is one of the GREAT GAMES. Pac Man. Wolfenstein 3D. The Binding of Isaac. Hollow Knight. This game is that good. I fully expect to be trying to beat my own scores five, ten, twenty years from now. Unless homie makes a sequel or something that's somehow better, this is going to be an always-installed for me.

Please, NEVER AGAIN implement changing languages this way.

I wouldn't mind clicking 10 times to cycle the languages until I get to the one I desire, but god damn it's annoying when it takes 10 seconds each click.

Anyway, game looks good

Best chill "arcade" game ever! It's an action rpg that is no save play to death. Choose a space ship, a defense, and offense, and survive!

This is a phenomenal and unique game, it has so many aspects to it that it has a very enjoyable learning curve that in my experience never goes away, it keeps me coming back for more and always trying to beat my high scores

This is a deceptively simple game, at first. One of those things that is easy to jump into, but difficult to master. It's my go-to quick session game. No cut-scenes, no prep missions, no dialog. Just jump into a game, go for as long as you can stay alive and see how high of a score you can rack up; a true classic arcade shooter but with enough bells and whistles to keep it interesting.

The controls work well on keyboard and with a game controller, I prefer the the controller for some of the ability stacks just because feathering the engines and rotation becomes important with some abilities and combinations.

The game modifiers let you dial in the experience - personally I don't like having a "Final Boss", but "Endless" let's me go for as long of a run as possible.

It's tempting to fall into a favorite abilities stack, but it's really fun to explore the various combinations. It can be a little frustrating at first trying to figure out what each ability does. There's still a bunch of upgrades that I don't understand their value, but I keep finding abilities I didn't know about that required certain combinations of abilities to unlock.

The amount of particles can get overwhelming at times, but it's not as bad as other games I've played and they usually have some significance - there's not a lot of pass-through particles that make you doge something harmless just to end up getting hit by something that actually does damage. There's power-ups that you can collect, but there's only a couple of different types, so once you know what to look for, everything else is enemy fire.

My biggest complaint is that this seems like the perfect mobile game, but there's nothing like it on Android. Still waiting!

Nova drift has got to be one of the best space themed rogue lites I've seen.
i love this games simple art style and controls, though there may be other games that have prettier graphics or smoother controls this game stands out from the rest.

in my 200~ hours I've had nothing but fun

10/10 would buy again

Very good game 9/10 fun space shoot things and its pretty

There are better shooters out there. I wanted to like it, but it just falls flat especially on the controls. It's like playing old-school Asteroids on the Atari but with bullet hell quantities of enemies.

This just isn't fun to play with a controller. It feels like it should be a twin-stick due to the amount of stuff going on on screen. It is easier to play with a mouse and keyboard but I'd rather play form a couch than a desk.

my Top 3 Jams.. Absolutely love the colors and the execution of the game is so clean and the runs can grow so differently. I love experimenting with sick builds. finding new discoveries all thew time. Absolutely Superp work Devs. I have yet to see anything come close to this quality in visuals and gameplay mechanics. I would love if the Devs would add more ships and weapons/ability branches to Drift deeper down the black hole that is Nova!. I'm 100% certified in the genre to give a valid recommendation. Check my library. I pray to the universe every night for the devs to add DLC or give us Nova Drift 2. I need it please!!!
"Nova Drift is no doubt Too Legit to Quit!"

Nova Drift is a gem of a game. Take Asteroids, add variety in weapons and ship bodies, make it a roguelite, add some interesting and challenging bosses, throw in a dash of bullet hell situations, then finish with a killer soundtrack as the cherry on top. The game is a blast, no pun intended, and experimenting with builds is more than half the fun.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect, in a good and refreshing way, was just how many of the builds end up being close range focus, and how that completely morphs the relationship with the game. With the close range builds you cannot rely on ship-shooter or bullet hell genre staples by keeping your distance, and instead play the risk-reward game with every enemy spawn of needing to approach to deal damage while ensuring you don't get hit. My favorite close range build so far is Swords with the Firefly body; swing the swords on approach for damage, do a U-turn in the enemies face, then blast them with my burn as I blast off to a safe distance to repeat.

The game handles itself so well. Arcade runs take roughly 20-30 minutes to finish, no 90 minute runs like some of the more famous roguelites, but there is an Endless mode if that's what you want.

The pace of meta-unlocks is great to keep you from ever truly getting bored of your options. I personally wish it was easier to guarantee weapon/body combos, but the game has enough rerolls that I usually manage to get what I want at the cost of less rerolls for the upgrades, but such is the rogue experience.

And in case you're worried you will grow weary of the experimentation, the devs have you covered with the Wild Metamorphosis mode. The Store Page calls this the roguelike experience, and it is! Crazy upgrades that differ from what you get in Arcade or Endless modes, allowing for even wilder builds than are otherwise impossible.

I am writing this review at nearly 9hrs of playtime, I've enjoyed every second of it. If I had endless free time I would put many, many more hours into the game, but who knows how life will go. I think the game is worthwhile at full price, and definitely worth a purchase on sale. If anything in this review or on the Store Page sounds enticing, you will not regret getting Nova Drift.

Im not good at this game, still having fun though.
Some of the combinations can get really interesting.
Not too much to say that hasn't been shown on the trailer.

Converged thousands of shots into a super- heated, super- massive welding torch.
Forgave any and all munitions in order to ram the emissaries with my spaceship, going about 2s/s (Screens per second.)
Roguelike mode gave me the power to shoot grenades out of my rectum, along with a mine setup that blew any and all bosses straight out of the water.

Its gonna take a bit to amass every upgrade so you can figure out the interactions between them, but by all means, I'd say the experimenting is half the fun of it.

Also, a hint.
The giant swords count as constructs, go wild.

8.5/10

Nova Drift is one of the greatest roguelikes available today.

The core mechanic that defines the genre is build variety and that's also where this game really excels. There are an immense number of viable, interesting, fun builds you can create. You are rewarded for creativity, thoughtfulness and experimentation.

That's the highest praise I can offer for one of these. It's what makes the genre so addictive when it's at it's best.

Well, i guess ive unlocked everything exeppt for my pride. back on to the apocolypse grind

Amazing little gem. Endlessly repeatable. Builds can get crazy and there is a lot of customization possibilities.
Yes it does not have a story. It does not matter.

Take asteroids - You know the arcade game, yeah - and add a insane soundtrack, some of most indepth build crafting I've seen in a rogue like, and a beautiful art style, and boom you get nova drift. This game is truly a experience to play and see. If you are thinking of picking it up please do you won't regret it.

Great game and can be played forever with all the different builds you can make. Wish they added a workshop page for mods tough

I love this game, been playing it for a while, had it in the beginning of early access. It's such a well designed game. The graphics are gorgeous and everything hits all the happy sensory buttons. The glowiness, the space nebula vibes, the popping explosion sounds, the creature inspired bosses, the easy controls (definitely better on keyboard/mouse, can almost play one-handed the entire time)... everything.

The skill trees are so neat to play around with. Endless customization. You can go for strategic builds or just fun ones.

Can't say enough about this game


(Also i think it is easy entry. I am bad at games, i play very casually and sporadically, and even i managed to hit 1 mil score. Not a lot compared to some, but pretty significant.)

relatively replayable, awesome style too, has the arcade type style to it without feeling all that retro as well. the gameplay though? its great. admittedly feels stupid at times, but aside from that it is just.. its perfect.

Pretty good, gives me asteroid vibes, top notch for arcade style lovers.

Extremely fun game, lots of upgrades and combos to explore. You feel like a glass cannon at times, even with defense builds. Let's you feel powerful and weak at the same time, The endgame gets boring with level-ups being few and far between. Aside from that, the build variety and niche strategies lead to a replayable and fun experience, with each run feeling fun and unique.
One note: read upgrades carefully, as some mods completely remove shields or do self-damage. I've accidentally died by taking self-damage upgrades without having any regen.

10/10 worth the price

fantasticly simple - could use some better default controls for some of the more advance maneuvers on KB/M

I honestly can't believe I've played this game for so long and still haven't gotten around to writing a review for it, but here I am finally writing a review. I cannot properly express how good this game is. My 500+ hours of playtime should give you a rough idea of how much replayability Nova Drift has, but in case you need more convincing, this game is also still being updated, and chimeric isn't actively working on any other games as far as I can tell, so all of their attention is being focused on this game. Besides, it's only like $15. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose.

This game has become my game of choice for a quick run of something. I will be honest, the controls were not what I was expecting. I anticipated a twin-stick setup. But after a few minutes of personal adjustment to the scheme, I have come to love the controls. This is a really great game that invokes the same kind of fun I had with Geometry Wars back in the day, but with modern rougelike elements. Highly recommended!

Utterly Fantastic Game!! Would love to add fan created mods.

Surprisingly deep, for what looks like a synth-wave-asteroids-clone on it's surface! Crazy amount of build options and gameplay strategies. This is one elegantly designed gem!

Excellent arcade-style space shooter. The visuals are vibrant, and frame rate smooth even when there are hundreds of enemies and projectiles crossing the screen. You can play with a controller, but I find the keyboard&mouse combo fast and accurate. Random power-ups keep each playthrough unique and challenging. Loads of unlockable challenge modes and even more upgrades. Trying different tactics is fun. I'll use long-range homing missiles one game, a short-range flak cannon the next, and generate drones to fight for me the game after that. Doesn't take too long to do one playthrough, so it's great for a work break. Very enjoyable for me. Highly recommend.

Highly addictive. Fun to experiment. Great game feel.
Every round is satisfying

Absolutely delightful, and more than enough content to be worth the price tag. If your adhd or general psych demand explosions and shiny colors then I can't recommend this enough.

Amazing game, really well made and fun to play, the amount of different builds you can do is insane. Graphics also look amazing. Definitely didnt get addicted and played 20hrs in 4 days.

Before purchasing I was hesitant, as a few reviews called out the ship controls. I'm very glad I did purchase, as the control thing is not a bug or a poor design, rather its a fantastic modern take on a classic arcade game "Asteroids" and it's ship control scheme.

Works perfect on Steam Deck.

A lot of the complaints and negative reviews about this game focus on the controls. I read several negative reviews and they all said basically the same thing. After reading a comment (I believe on Reddit) by the dev, he said he wanted to pattern the game after the old, classic Asteroids game in preference to the 'twin stick' games people are used to today, and it seemed that was what led to the complaints. I had believed then the issue was generational and, being an old guy in my 50s I figured, no problem, I'm an old Asteroids guy myself, I can't handle twin-stick, this should be right up my alley!

It turns out, I was dead wrong. This isn't a generational thing. This isn't twin-stick vs classic. This isn't Asteroids. Let me re-iterate again, I owned and played the original Asteroids at home and in the old-time arcades with real-life quarters. I owned a Pong game machine and a Commodore 128, I know me some Asteroids fella. And this ain't it. I still play RTS games and have some reasonable dexterity and micro, so it's not an age thing either. This is a truly bad, or at least tragically difficult, controls thing.

Yes you can reset key bindings, and I did, several times, trying different layouts. It didn't matter much. The problem is, there are too many things you need to control, that you end up needing two hands to do it all, which, I mean that makes it a twin stick anyway! It's just a worse version of it. Whether your hands are on two sticks, or one hand on your arrow keys and another hand on WASD, that's two hands, that's twin stick, just on keys.

Secondarily, the controls are extremely touchy, and jumpy. When I say jumpy, I mean jumpier than a virgin on prom night. Holy smokes. When you start moving forward, you're going at Millennium Falcon levels of speed. I dunno how many parsecs it is but good lord is it uncontrollably fast. The other issue is, you can 'warp' through the edges of the screen but the enemy can't - it screws with your brain when you go flying through a wall that the enemy bounced off of, right in front of your eyes. It just makes no sense and when you're as uncontrollable as you are in this game, it just makes it 10x worse to regain control.

The last semi-negative (and I will get to some positives) is the upgrades are not really clearly explained. I am sure it's a learning curve thing but, nobody likes playing through their first time and not knowing the mechanics in the slightest.

For the good - the game is damned fun, when I can control my ship. I want to love this game. It looks freakin' awesome, it has great audio and sound, the visuals are incredible and it just feels like there's the makings for a great bunch of runs, fails, and fun.

:edit: turns out I did refund this game, as much as I hated to do it. Reason being, beyond the abysmal controls I came to finds that although there are three branches of upgrades for your ship, (engines, shields, weapons) upgrading the shields to become weapons themselves far out-balances the other builds (making them almost useless) and make control much less important. It just breaks the game. maybe I'd get better with controls but, it won't change the balance of the game, or, imbalance.

My recommendation though is, carefully consider the controls. It really is as bad as the complaints say. It's not an age or style thing, it's rough. And I get it, it's a choice or style by the devs, and this is nothing personal, I wish you guys continued success. However these controls are an absolute travesty, bordering on criminally bad.

If this looks at all like the kind of game you like, you will probably like it. The roguelike elements are great and there are tons of unlocks and weird combos that change how you play. It has a lot of interesting influences. It's like the old Asteroids game in terms of moving around and looping back to the other side of the screen when you fly off the edge (and there are even some actual asteroids to bring you into nostalgia-land), but it also obviously hearts modern bullet hell upgrader games like Vampire Survivors. Sometimes it feels like the old game Galaga, if anyone remembers that, with tons of starships flying patterns around you. Sure, you die all the time, but it's so much fun to get blown up that you won't even complain about it.

Really fun trying out different builds, and there's tons to try out. Overall great arcade-style game to have fun sessions on.

Really reccommend. For warframe fans + people who want to itch that shooter roguelike, this was exactly what I was looking for even when I wasn't sure what to get. Amazing community on the discord as well. Been great so far, and I'm still invested

Honestly this game is just fun.

The controls may be a little bit hard to wrap your head around but after some time it will feel natural, smooth even.
Music slaps too and the new weapons and upgrades are always a blast to play with.
Best of all the game gets updates frequently enough so you can alway be hyped to play the next one.

Gameplay is like a refined "survivors" type game with interesting enemies and bosses, and controls that are hard to get the hang of but very fun when you do. One of the builds you can make is just ramming your ship into enemy ships at very high speed and it's great.

Game is kindof just bland. Graphics are flashy but actually pretty basic. The "mod trees" are very small (4 things) , and I think this was a missed opportunity to have an actual "tech tree" with interconnecting parts. Many of the weapons feels very underwhelming.

Easily one of the most addicting 'just one more run' rogue-like games out there. The skill floor is very low, whilst the ceiling is through the roof, with each different run being capable of being something wildly different due to the variety of weapons and mutations you can build up to.

So fun! NOT a twin-stick shooter so I am enjoying it a ton. It's basically like... Asteroids + Roguelite + Arcade action so this is right up my alley. Fast paced, lots going on. Some of the weapons seem to be a lot stronger than others as to be expected. Fun fun fun!