Nova Drift is a 'rogue-lite' space shooter that melds a classic arcade experience with modern action-RPG elements, emphasizing build-crafting and deep customization. Your ship rapidly evolves as you defeat enemies, allowing you to take a build from inception to execution in a single, captivating game session.Â

Build to play how you want, creating a unique build every game. Runs are quick, allowing for rapid experimentation and iteration.Â

DEFINE YOUR BUILD, combining dozens of choices of Weapon, Shield, and Body GEAR, including:

Weapon - Thermal Lance: Channel a focused lance of heat that makes targets vulnerable to further damage.Â

Weapon - Swords: Wield a pair of monomolecular double-edged swords that parry projectiles.Â

Shield - Warp: Teleport when your shield breaks, creating an entry and exit blast.Â

Shield - Halo: Burn targets within your shields radius.Â

Body - Carrier: Command a legion of Swarm Constructs.Â

Body - Leviathan: Become an ever-growing serpent that shreds with its body.Â

Body - Firefly: Sear targets with massive thrusters.

Unlock an arsenal of over 200 MODULAR UPGRADES:

Transform your build, choosing from dozens of SUPER MODS:

Charged Mines: Your mines charge, unleashing your weapon on detonation.Â

Dying Star: Take constant damage, but burn nearby targets based on proximity and how damaged you are.Â

Barrage: Transform any weapon into a bullet hose.Â

Singular Strike: Fuse all of your projectiles into one giant projectile.Â

Ataraxia: Gain powerful passive buffs for each unspent upgrade point.Â

Antimatter Rounds: Your weapon can punch through hostile projectiles.Â

Void Slice: Teleport, slicing through anything in your path.Â

Warp Strike: Your projectiles can screen-wrap.Â

Sanctuary: Convert your shield into a massive roving bubble and gain power while within it.

Enjoy varied GAME MODES:

Endless: Find out just how far you can push your build after victory.Â

Draft: Jump deep into enemy territory with a pre-constructed build.Â

Wild Metamorphosis: Enjoy a challenging "rogue-like" experience that offers powerful, transformative mods.

Unlock MODULAR CHALLENGE MODES as your skills grow. Greater risk means greater rewards!

EXAMPLE BUILD - Celestial Striker:

This unconventional build defeats enemies by slamming right through them, detonating its shields, and burning anything nearby.Â

Hullbreaker is the cornerstone of our build, fast, resilient, and able to deal massive crash damage based on its velocity.Â

Amp Shield increases our velocity and damage, which results in massive crash damage.Â

Volatile Shields ensures that when our Amp Shield breaks on impact, nearby enemies receive a devastating explosion.Â

Flash Shielding lets us get our shield back quickly.Â

Celestial Lance converts our speed into a burning aura, letting us crowd control as we soar.Â

Celestial Surge lets us convert our aura into a massive burning projectile on demand, igniting anything in its path.

Nova Drift is a decade-long labor of love developed by Jeffrey Nielson (Chimeric) in collaboration with its community, featuring music and audio by Miles Tilmann (Pixeljam).Â