The Game Census
Nova Drift cover art

Nova Drift

Chimeric · Pixeljam · 2024-08-12

SteamGOG

ActionIndie

Modes: Single player

Releases: Aug 12, 2024 (Mac), Aug 12, 2024 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Mar 10, 2026 (Android), Mar 10, 2026 (iOS)

Nova Drift distills the mechanical depth and strategy of an ARPG into classic arcade space combat. Control an endlessly evolving bio-mechanical ship, face legions of strange and deadly foes, and ride the wake of a dying star across the void.

Nova Drift is a 2024 Action and Indie title priced at $17.99, with an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 owners and an Overwhelmingly Positive review sentiment (96% of 14,619 reviews).

80
playing now
96%
positive of 15k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
0/100
critic score (0 outlets, IGDB)
71/100
IGDB user rating (15 ratings)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$17.99
steam price (US)

80 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 12:00 UTC (census sample)

Nova Drift is a "Roguelite" space shooter that melds a classic arcade experience with modern action-RPG elements. Your ship rapidly evolves as you defeat enemies, allowing you to shape its abilities and weaponry to your desires in a matter of minutes. Unlike many ARPGs which can absorb hundreds of hours of time, Nova Drift allows you to take a ship build from inception to execution in a single game session. Features Create a unique build every run. Games are quick, allowing for rapid experimentation, iteration, and advancement. Cunning and creativity are rewarded as you chain upgrade modules (Storyline via IGDB)

Trailer

Nova Drift trailer thumbnail

Roguelike Review in a Minute: Nova Drift

≈434,426 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Cooling
  • · 80 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 311 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~39/week).
  • · Review velocity down 41% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 4% of 27,727 Action games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 292k–658k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 14,619 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$12.05-33%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $6.11 at Steam (2026-09-09) · bundled 2×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $17.99 · on sale 63 of 107 observed days · $5.94 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
75375320192026Week of 2019-03-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 65 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 105 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 135 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 84 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 223 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 171 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 108 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 126 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 91 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 101 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 243 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 158 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 141 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 75 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 93 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 108 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 265 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 161 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 510 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 215 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 208 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 190 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 148 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 125 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 398 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 143 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 164 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 117 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 106 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 192 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 467 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 30 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 305 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 230 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 206 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 177 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 245 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 266 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 164 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 213 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 279 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 145 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 114 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 153 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 97 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 88 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 126 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 73 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 95 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 75 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 177 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 239 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 123 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 150 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 100 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 158 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 82 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 81 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 87 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 753 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 75 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 220 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 125 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 392 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 194 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 135 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 74 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 76 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 78 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 150 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 2 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

151612026-09-15 13:00 — 151 players2026-09-16 21:00 — 113 players2026-09-18 05:00 — 90 players2026-09-19 12:00 — 136 players2026-09-20 20:00 — 135 players2026-09-22 03:00 — 110 players2026-09-23 11:00 — 103 players2026-09-24 18:00 — 93 players2026-09-26 02:00 — 125 players2026-09-27 09:00 — 85 players2026-09-28 17:00 — 124 players2026-09-30 00:00 — 144 players2026-10-01 08:00 — 88 players2026-10-02 15:00 — 112 players2026-10-03 23:00 — 93 players2026-10-05 07:00 — 73 players2026-10-06 15:00 — 94 players2026-10-07 22:00 — 77 players2026-10-09 06:00 — 68 players2026-10-10 13:00 — 92 players2026-10-11 21:00 — 87 players2026-10-13 04:00 — 76 players2026-10-14 12:00 — 80 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
56137Apr 2019Aug 2026Apr 2019 — avg 74 · peak 184Jul 2019 — avg 53 · peak 103Oct 2019 — avg 92 · peak 263Jan 2020 — avg 100 · peak 207Apr 2020 — avg 103 · peak 175Jul 2020 — avg 123 · peak 204Oct 2020 — avg 147 · peak 266Jan 2021 — avg 530 · peak 944Apr 2021 — avg 219 · peak 397Jul 2021 — avg 366 · peak 811Oct 2021 — avg 172 · peak 266Jan 2022 — avg 431 · peak 1,133Apr 2022 — avg 341 · peak 661Jul 2022 — avg 326 · peak 475Oct 2022 — avg 397 · peak 1,274Jan 2023 — avg 198 · peak 338Apr 2023 — avg 229 · peak 541Jul 2023 — avg 155 · peak 224Oct 2023 — avg 257 · peak 521Jan 2024 — avg 151 · peak 254Apr 2024 — avg 127 · peak 210Jul 2024 — avg 123 · peak 193Oct 2024 — avg 198 · peak 370Jan 2025 — avg 146 · peak 242Apr 2025 — avg 118 · peak 193Jul 2025 — avg 128 · peak 181Oct 2025 — avg 82 · peak 135Jan 2026 — avg 82 · peak 129Apr 2026 — avg 83 · peak 150Jul 2026 — avg 80 · peak 123Aug 2026 — avg 77 · peak 123
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$17.99$6.292019-03-282026-10-142019-03-28 — best price $14.992019-10-07 — best price $14.992020-01-27 — best price $14.992020-05-25 — best price $9.742020-07-21 — best price $11.012020-08-27 — best price $8.992020-10-07 — best price $14.992020-11-04 — best price $13.392020-12-10 — best price $13.392021-02-04 — best price $14.992021-03-21 — best price $13.392021-04-28 — best price $11.012021-06-09 — best price $8.242021-08-30 — best price $8.992021-11-22 — best price $13.392022-01-19 — best price $11.012022-04-04 — best price $14.992022-06-28 — best price $14.992022-09-17 — best price $13.392022-12-22 — best price $7.492023-02-27 — best price $17.992023-05-26 — best price $13.392023-09-12 — best price $9.892023-11-28 — best price $17.992024-02-06 — best price $17.992024-04-18 — best price $17.992024-07-11 — best price $7.192024-10-29 — best price $17.992025-01-13 — best price $14.392025-03-21 — best price $14.282025-06-17 — best price $16.072025-09-09 — best price $16.072026-01-05 — best price $17.992026-05-01 — best price $12.052026-08-05 — best price $12.052026-09-10 — best price $12.052026-09-30 — best price $12.052026-10-14 — best price $12.05
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

40
achievements tracked
47.5%
earned "Shouldn’t Have Been Standing There"
4.6%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam CloudSteam LeaderboardsFamily Sharing1 DLC

11 supported languages: English, French, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Korean, Spanish - Spain, German

Post-launch support: 1 DLC released, first 2019-09-30 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)6,9001%40

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

2DSpaceActionArcadeCasualShooterColorfulAction RPGRogue-likeRogue-lite

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

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Similarity via IGDB.

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