Picture this: you’re racing through a bizarre alien landscape to deliver a package to a self-important fish-man king. Your rival just dropped a whale on you using an Orbital weapon inspired by Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. At the finish line, you get three seconds to choose your next track based on which stat upgrade synergizes best with your current build. That’s Reality Drift, and it’s the kind of weird, wonderful gaming experience that only exists in indie development.
Andrew Gillett at Arganoid Industries has been working on this roguelike racing game for over two years, and it just hit Steam with a demo. The core pitch is deceptively simple: combine the rapid decision-making of Slay the Spire with the retro racing vibes of Outrun, add a splash of dark humor, and suddenly you’ve got a game where winning is as much about making smart upgrade choices as it is about driving skill.
How The Roguelike Racing Actually Works
Every run in Reality Drift follows the same structure. You start a mission with fixed base stats for acceleration, max speed, and grip. You then race against 99 CPU opponents across multiple tracks. After each race, you choose between three different track options – and here’s the key – each option comes paired with a stat upgrade.
The strategy isn’t just “be fast.” It’s about understanding synergies. Do you stack acceleration and max speed for a glass cannon build? Do you lean into grip to take corners without slowing down? Do you grab shield powerups to tank incoming attacks? Every choice matters because your opponents are making choices too, and they’re subject to the exact same rules. The CPU can’t choose what track to race next, but they can see the same upgrade options you can and will make smart decisions.
The Weapons That Make It Chaotic
Mid-race action is where Reality Drift shows its weird side. The game includes Mario Kart-style weapons – machine guns, rockets, multi-rockets, mines – but also two wildly specific unique weapons. One creates earthquakes that damage all cars ahead of you. The other is Orbital, the whale dropper that gives the game its identity.
Orbital doesn’t just drop a single whale. Depending on your card setup (the game has deckbuilding elements), you can unleash multiple whales on your opponents. The whale deals damage and temporarily hampers their performance unless they have a shield equipped. In multiplayer chaos, you might see dozens of whales raining down on the leader while you desperately avoid them.
25 Missions With Bizarre Characters
Every mission sends you on delivery runs to increasingly unpleasant characters. Pisces Silverscale is the self-important fish-man king of the ocean who thinks he’s a big deal. John Stonks is a city CEO whose resemblance to a certain billionaire is definitely not coincidental. Vincenzo is a depraved fungal prince. Laika is the first dog in space, reanimated by aliens and furious about it.
Each character gets their own mission with unique twists on the formula. Some missions are pure racing. Others add deckbuilding elements where you collect cards that activate when drawn. Some have environmental hazards or special rules. The game promises 25 missions total, and unlocking New Game+ raises the difficulty substantially once you beat them all.
The Humor Makes It
Gillett clearly spent time on dialogue and character design. The game doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s deliberately comedic in its absurdity. Whales rain from the sky during races. You’re delivering packages to entitled godlike creatures who treat you like trash. The racing game genre doesn’t usually lean into humor, and Reality Drift using it as a core part of its identity makes it stand out immediately.
A Solo Developer Making His Own Vision
What makes Reality Drift especially impressive is the context. Gillett previously worked as a programmer at Frontier Developments, contributing to games like Elite Dangerous. Health issues forced him to step back from that career due to long working hours. Reality Drift is his second solo release on Steam, and the first time he hired a professional artist instead of doing placeholder programmer art himself.
The inspiration came while watching a Slay the Spire stream. Gillett saw intro art of a camper van launching off a ramp and thought, “What if I made a racing game with meaningful deck-building decisions like Slay the Spire?” Two years later, that idea became a fully realized game with weird characters, strategic depth, and whales dropping from the sky.
Visual Style That Stands Out
Most 2.5D retro racing games default to either 80s neon or pixel art aesthetics. Gillett deliberately chose a different visual direction. The result is a game that looks distinctly like itself – colorful, readable, and immediately charming. The art style complements the humor rather than just being nostalgic window dressing.
Current Status and What To Expect
Reality Drift is available on Steam as a full release with a free demo. The demo includes four missions without the weapon-based combat missions, since the artwork for those is still in development. A harder difficulty mode and New Game+ are confirmed features coming with the full release.
The game already has wishlist support on Steam, and player feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. People clearly want a racing game that’s funny, strategic, and willing to drop whales on opponents mid-race. It turns out that’s a pretty underserved market niche.
FAQs
Is Reality Drift available now?
Yes, Reality Drift is available on Steam as a full release. A free demo is also available if you want to try it before purchasing.
What platforms can I play Reality Drift on?
Reality Drift is available on PC through Steam. No console versions have been announced.
How long is Reality Drift?
The game includes 25 missions that can be completed in varied timeframes depending on difficulty. New Game+ extends the content once you beat all base missions. Individual runs typically take 15-30 minutes depending on how far you progress.
Is Reality Drift multiplayer?
The game features 100-player races (you plus 99 CPU opponents). Local multiplayer modes haven’t been mentioned, but online racing against AI provides plenty of competitive variety.
What does Slay the Spire have to do with Reality Drift?
Gillett drew inspiration from Slay the Spire’s roguelike deck-building philosophy. Instead of choosing cards, you’re choosing upgrade paths for your car after each race. The decision-making structure and strategic depth follow similar principles.
Can I really drop whales on opponents?
Yes. The Orbital weapon, inspired by Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, literally drops whales on the leading car. Multiple whales can be deployed depending on your card setup, creating chaotic multi-whale scenarios.
Is there a harder difficulty?
Yes, New Game+ unlocks after beating all 25 base missions with increased difficulty. There will also be an easier difficulty mode for players who want a more relaxed experience.
Who is Andrew Gillett?
Gillett previously worked as a programmer at Frontier Developments. Reality Drift is his second solo game release on Steam, developed independently after leaving his previous career due to health concerns related to long working hours.
Conclusion
Reality Drift proves that racing games don’t need to follow the established formula. By combining roguelike progression with strategic upgrade choices and absolute chaos via whale weapons, Arganoid Industries has created something genuinely fresh. It’s a game made by one person with a specific vision, and that vision is wonderfully weird. The humor, the strategic depth, the bizarre characters – everything works together to make racing fun again. If you’ve been tired of racing games taking themselves too seriously, Reality Drift is the antidote. It’s quick to learn, tough to master, and absolutely ridiculous in the best way possible. Download the demo on Steam and prepare to drop whales on unsuspecting AI opponents.