DRIFT: To Sink or Swim

DRIFT: To Sink or Swim

What do you become when you stop pretending to be who you were? How much would you risk to save someone who's already given up?

DRIFT is a story-driven visual novel about identity, embracing change, and finding connections in unexpected places. After a reckless night out, you play as Noah, a middle-aged cat working an unfulfilling office job who finds himself entangled with a mysterious aquatic test subject known only as Shark. What starts as a chance encounter soon becomes a journey of introspection, loyalty, and self-definition.

This playable demo covers the first two acts of a five-part story, introducing the core characters, tone, and branching choice mechanics. Expect emotional dialogue, moral dilemmas, and one very stressed-out protagonist.

The full story will feature five acts with transformation as a main theme, but not in the physical sense. It’s more about how the lens you view the world through transforms the world itself. There’s no evil villain, no big conspiracy to unravel, no romance subplot, and no world-ending disaster. Just a few complicated people stuck in an unusual situation. The story doesn’t just ask “what will Noah become?” It asks, “What kind of story does Noah choose to be in?”

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What’s Included in the Act 2 Demo

• A 90-120 minute playable segment introducing the main characters and premise.
• Branching dialogue that affects character tone and trust.
• An original soundtrack by Hungarian music producer Robert Schneider.
• Three different endings, as well as two secret bonus scenes hidden behind a particular sequence of choices. You’ll know it if you find it. Trust me

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Feedback Encouraged!

This is a solo project and my first real attempt at writing a fictional story as well as building a visual novel. I'm using it to grow as both a writer and a developer, and I'm learning as I go. If you play the current demo, I’d genuinely love to hear what you think: what resonated, what didn’t, and what you'd like to see more (or less) of.

Feel free to leave comments here on itch.io or contact me on Telegram directly. There's a QR code near the end of the demo that links to my personal Telegram account.

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Synthetic Content Disclosure

The current playable build is an early, unfinished version containing the first two acts of a five-act story. It is not a remotely final release.

This demo incorporates AI-generated artwork as temporary placeholders to test story pacing, layout, and functionality of the game engine. I am currently engaging in talks with several artists, and their artwork will replace the placeholder content in a future update.

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Thanks again for taking the time to check out DRIFT. Even if it looks a little rough around the edges right now, I hope something in this world sticks with you.