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.

95
playing now
96%
positive of 15k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam rating
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)
$17.99
steam price (US)

95 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 02:00 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)

Health check

Cooling
  • · 95 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 9% of 10,862 Action games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 291k–656k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 14,570 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$17.99
lowest across shops (ITAD)$17.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $6.29 at Steam (2024-03-09) · bundled 2×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $17.99 · on sale 42 of 73 observed days · $11.70 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

107422026-08-07 00:00 — 87 players2026-08-07 08:00 — 63 players2026-08-07 16:00 — 97 players2026-08-08 00:00 — 79 players2026-08-08 08:00 — 68 players2026-08-08 16:00 — 107 players2026-08-09 00:00 — 85 players2026-08-09 08:00 — 82 players2026-08-09 16:00 — 96 players2026-08-10 00:00 — 80 players2026-08-10 08:00 — 42 players2026-08-10 16:00 — 87 players2026-08-11 00:00 — 78 players2026-08-11 08:00 — 67 players2026-08-11 16:00 — 84 players2026-08-13 00:00 — 86 players2026-08-14 07:00 — 78 players2026-08-15 15:00 — 90 players2026-08-16 23:00 — 75 players2026-08-18 06:00 — 71 players2026-08-19 14:00 — 77 players2026-08-20 22:00 — 69 players2026-08-22 05:00 — 70 players2026-08-23 13:00 — 69 players2026-08-24 20:00 — 70 players2026-08-26 04:00 — 62 players2026-08-27 11:00 — 56 players2026-08-28 18:00 — 63 players2026-08-30 02:00 — 95 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$17.99$6.292019-03-282026-08-302019-03-28 — 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 $12.052026-08-30 — best price $17.99
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

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.

Player tags

2DSpaceActionArcadeCasualShooterColorfulAction RPGRogue-likeRogue-lite

Census log

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

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsPLANET ALPHAPAWARUMIRICODream AloneVoid BastardsRebel Galaxy OutlawApsulov: End of Gods

Similarity via IGDB.

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