A new point ‘n’ click graphic adventure is not just a clever nod to the early days of video game storytelling but one of the most satisfyingly dark game of the year.
It takes some bravery to make a point ‘n’ click adventure game – on the face of it, one of the most anachronistic of genres – in this day and age. That’s doubly true if you use the ancient format as a means of conveying a dark, existential story. But that’s exactly what the determinedly indie developer Powerhoof has done with The Drifter.
Factor in blocky pixel art graphics, and it would be easy to dismiss The Drifter as another exercise in retro nostalgia affectation. But when you play it, it somehow contrives to feel oddly timeless, thanks to its modern setting and an imaginatively labyrinthine storyline, that inexorably sucks you into its idiosyncrasies.
The Drifter’s action starts with protagonist Mick Carter stowing away on a freight train, in classic beatnik style. This is appropriate because Carter is essentially a tramp, with a long grey beard and a self-flagellating inner monologue. He’s clearly escaping from a traumatic incident in his past, as he returns to the unnamed city where he used to live, in order to attend his mother’s funeral.
The city may be a mystery but it’s clearly somewhere in Australia and Powerhoof is based in Melbourne, with all the voice-acting delivered in unmistakably Aussie tones – a rarity in itself with video games.
Things swiftly go pear-shaped: after opening the freight train compartment’s stuck door (an exercise that demonstrates how The Drifter adheres to the time-honoured point ‘n’ click gameplay blueprint of finding, combining, and using objects), the other tramp present is shot dead by what appear to be military types.
Carter manages to escape from them and regroup with another bunch of homeless people, plus a local newspaper reporter sniffing around them, in an underpass below the railway.
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With his one useful possession, a mobile phone, having run out of battery, Carter’s pressing concern is working out how to get in touch with his sister in order to find out when and where his mother’s funeral will take place. But inexplicable events get in the way of that, culminating in him apparently dying and being resurrected.
This initiates what will eventually become a time-slipping, sci-fi thread cleverly woven into the fabric of The Drifter. But before a mid-game story change-up it adds a hallucinatory effect, as Carter struggles with more everyday tasks, followed by a period of sleuthing.
The Drifter’s story is the beating heart of the game and comes complete with a couple of huge twists. It’s also inclined to lurch off in unexpected but nevertheless believable directions, so it would be a travesty to spoil to much. It’s beautifully written, cleverly layered, and populated with interesting characters – Mick’s spiky, long-suffering ex-wife, especially, comes across as three-dimensional and relatable.
There’s a world-weary, very Australian, tone throughout the game, with an underlying darkness leavened with plenty of humour – Mick is subjected to all manner of indignities, but he takes them all in a stoical, matter-of-fact manner, perhaps driven by a feeling that he deserves to be punished for past misdemeanours.
As the storyline evolves towards its climax, it morphs into an epic philosophical examination of the difficulties of dealing with cataclysmic events from the past, and how attempting to change those events may not be a good idea.
While it never gets quite as pitch black as the likes of, say, Disco Elysium, The Drifter will certainly offer plenty of satisfaction for those who crave games that don’t paint an unnecessarily rosy picture of the world, and which treat their audience as adults endowed with well-developed thought processes.
However, it won’t be for everyone: it has the slightly rough and ready feel of a game made by a solo developer – which, in the early years of its development it was, before a handful of extra personnel joined originator Dave Lloyd.
The blocky graphics are at least distinctive, but can become confusingly impressionistic, especially when you’re trying to pick the correct object from an ever-expanding inventory. And that classic point ‘n’ click gameplay, given an added layer of directness via a clever twin stick control system, will feel clunky for those who demand fast twitch action.
But if you value games that are intelligent, imaginative, and have something interesting to say then The Drifter is hard to resist. Games developed by a single person are always guaranteed to at least be a labour of love. That certainly seems to be the case for The Drifter which, comes across as the absolute antithesis of corporate AI slop.
The Drifter review summary
In Short: An inspired new point ‘n’ click adventure that proves impressively daring with its dark storytelling and retro style presentation.
Pros: Clever, imaginative, and very adult storytelling, that’s full of twists and has a uniquely Aussie outlook on life. Control system speeds up the classic point ‘n’ click gameplay. Great music.
Cons: The pacing can be slow and ponderous at times, and the graphics a little unclear, especially when dealing with the inventory or small on-screen objects.
Score: 7/10
Formats: PC (reviewed) and Nintendo Switch
Price: TBA
Publisher: Powerhoof
Developer: Powerhoof
Release Date: 17th July 2025 (Switch TBA)
Age Rating: N/A
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