# Nova Drift — Ship-crafting arcade combat

> Roguelike space shooter with deep ship customization and arcade combat. (iPhone/iPad app by Chimeric LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nova-drift/id6744329971 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Chimeric LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/996529169)
- Category: Games, Action, Strategy
- Price: $9.99
- Rating: 4.40/5 from 54 App Store ratings · 54 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 9+
- Requires: iOS 10.0 · 573 MB
- Languages: Russian, American English, European Spanish, Korean, German (Germany), Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan), Chinese (Simplified, China), French (France) and 1 more
- Released: 2026-03-09
- Data updated: 2026-09-04
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nova-drift/id6744329971/reviews.md

## What is Nova Drift?

- SURVIVE - EVOLVE - DOMINATE -

Nova Drift is a roguelike space shooter that combines classic arcade combat with 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.

Featuring:

- Quick gameplay sessions (15-45 minutes) that allow for rapid experimentation, iteration, and advancement.

- Over 200 modular upgrades, unlocked over time, to create your ideal build with. Snipe, command a drone army, discharge your shields, charge up, burn enemies with your thrusters, or smash right through them... there's a way to make it work.

- Modular challenge modes to unlock and activate, providing greater risk and rewards. The stakes are high, as death is permanent!

- Every game is randomly generated, keeping the fight intense and unpredictable. Fight through the campaign or play endlessly...

Nova Drift is created by Chimeric, with music by Miles Tilmann.

Website: https://novadrift.io/
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Zp2MkPJ

## Key features

- Roguelike space shooter gameplay
- Deep ship build-crafting
- Over 200 modular upgrades
- Quick, iterative gameplay sessions
- Randomly generated challenges
- Permanent death

## Recent user reviews (10 of 54)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nova-drift/id6744329971/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Awesome Game!

*2026-08-09*

Tried the light and bought the full version. Love the neon style, graphics, etc

The touch controls on an iPhone is definitely hard to play as your thumbs are covering the screen.

Definitely takes some time to get used to moving and turning.

One feature I’d request is to save iCloud save, so I don’t need to redo the unlocks.

Cheers

### 3/5 — Needs Dynamic/Floating Joystick

*2026-08-05*

It’s a great game for the most part. I love space shooters and the wide variety of upgrades give it a lot of interesting replay value.

However, the controls are just frustrating if you aren’t using a gamepad. The game desperately needs a dynamic / floating joystick option (that appears where you place your finger). I just do not have the skill to be able know exactly where the joystick is on the screen to accurately manipulate the controls with any kind of accuracy. And accuracy is required to get anywhere with this game.

Developers, please add this as a controls option in the future. It will drastically improve the experience.

### 5/5 — Nyooom

*2026-08-05*

We nyoooming with this one

### 4/5 — Good but…

*2026-07-15*

I love this game but sometimes the waves (specifically 1-20) feel very similar. It Also needs more specific paths for specific builds such as the carrier. I really like the bosses, you guys did well. it also needs an increased frequency of singularities.

**Developer response:** Glad you're having fun! If you turn on some Challenge Modes, you can skip most of those starting waves, and also increase the frequency of celestial hazards!

### 5/5 — Amazing build diversity!

*2026-06-30*

I’ve played Nova Drift since Early Access on Steam and it’s great to have it now on iOS! Customizing your ship and trying to find fun, interesting, and/or powerful combinations of upgrades gives this game incredible replayability. The graphics, sounds, and music are all beautifully done. Everything fits together really well and Nova Drift will forever stand out in my mind as an example of excellent game design.

**Developer response:** Wonderful to hear! So glad you're having a good time :)

### 3/5 — Stopped Loading

*2026-06-25, version 1.2.374*

I tried to play this week and I just get a black screen. It used to load fine before.

### 5/5 — great game, anyway

*2026-06-20*

please add a leaderborad button so you can look at your score and the top scores from the menu. 
Best roguelike/roguelite ever (you can even play on mobile)
This is one of my favourite all time games.

**Developer response:** Thank you for the great review! If you use the "Daily Challenge" game mode, which you may not have unlocked yet, you can compete in global leaderboards!

### 5/5 — Fantastic, deep, outstanding replayability.

*2026-05-17*

Love this game. Never write reviews, but this title needs all the love. No IAP, incredibly fun, and endless builds and strategies for success, as well as being flat gorgeous. Get it. Thank me later.

**Developer response:** This is awesome to hear! So glad you had a great time :)

### 5/5 — really good

*2026-05-11, version 1.2.374*

I got this game because it looked fun.
But I accidentally killed the final boss on my first serious attempt   :(

### 1/5 — セーブデータが消える

*2026-05-09*

iPhoneで実績もなかなかやったのに、iPadで起動した途端、スマホでのセーブデータが消えた………
苦労が……
好きなゲームなのでまた始めましたが、クラウドセーブ対応してほしいです

**Developer response:** Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that. We'd thought we fixed the possibility of this happening already. It should theoretically already take saves from the cloud, so there must be an edge case where it can go wrong. Please be assured we are investigating. Thank you for your patience!

## Frequently asked questions about Nova Drift

### What kind of game is Nova Drift?

Nova Drift is a roguelike space shooter that combines classic arcade combat with action-RPG elements. It focuses on deep ship customization and build-crafting, allowing players to evolve their ship rapidly within a single game session.

### How long are gameplay sessions?

Gameplay sessions are designed to be quick, typically lasting between 15 to 45 minutes. This allows for rapid experimentation, iteration, and advancement of your ship's build.

### What is the monetization model for Nova Drift?

Nova Drift is a premium application, meaning it is a one-time purchase. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements within the game.

### What makes the ship customization unique?

The game features over 200 modular upgrades that can be unlocked over time. This extensive system allows for a vast array of build possibilities, from sniping to drone command to shield-based combat.

### Is there replayability in Nova Drift?

Yes, Nova Drift offers high replayability due to its randomly generated game environments and challenges. Players can also unlock and activate modular challenge modes for increased risk and reward, and can play through the campaign or in an endless mode.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.2.374 — 2026-04-30

- Fix for when playing Draft, the upgrade button would be incredibly overscaled causing player to inadvertently open the upgrade screen
- Fix for construct buttons deploying more than 1 with the same tap
- Fix for a crash when having Blades or Swords

### 1.2.373 — 2026-04-20

- Fix for Gamepad B (east) button causing crash on iPad
- Fix for Upgrade touch button being able to activate it by dragging over it.
- Fix for toggle leaderboard button doing double presses when tapped
- Fix for Scorching Wake when using virtual joystick thrust

### 1.2.370 — 2026-03-26

Features:
- Improved virtual joystick controls: You can now thrust on the outer edges of the joystick. With this feature enabled, a thrust button is no longer needed. This can be disabled in Settings
- When you first run the game, you'll now be asked which controls you prefer: Virtual joystick or arrow keys
- Added a Save and Quit feature: Resume your game-in-progress anytime! Note that when using Resume, your score will not be submitted to online leaderboards
- Increased the Menu and Settings spacing and font sizes so it's easier to use with touch controls
- Added an opacity setting for touch controls
- Added a snapping toggle for touch controls
- When auto-firing, we now display the virtual button as "pressed"

Fixes:
- Added a fix for the double roll cost issue which was occurring on some iPhone models
- The game now always shows virtual buttons in the Customize Touch Controls screen, even if using a gamepad
- You can now navigate Settings sections with the gamepad shoulder buttons
- Added a small virtual joystick deadzone
- Fixed the thin text seen in some places (like the upgrade and pause screens)
- Fixed construct buttons hit areas not being centered when resetting the controls to defaults
- Fixed some text overlap with certain languages

### 1.2.346 — 2026-03-16

- Fixed rare issue where game crashes when pausing and pressing Resume
- First time you launch the game, you will be presented with the type of touch interface you'd like to use for turning - virtual joystick or turn left/right buttons.
- Some buttons are now easier to tap (e.g. Pause button). We will be overhauling the Settings screen soon.
- Fixed clipping of Chinese characters in the upgrade screen
- Name being entered for high-score was not visible due to the virtual keyboard

### 1.0 — 2026-03-11

No release notes.

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## More apps by Chimeric LLC

- [Nova Drift Lite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nova-drift-lite/id6746450915)

All apps by Chimeric LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/996529169

## Related topics

[nova drift](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/nova-drift) · [nova drift lite](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/nova-drift-lite)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-04.*