Drift

Jordan Studio

About this game

Drift is a one-thumb arcade racer made for your watch, not squeezed onto it. Hold a slide, watch the score climb, and try to stay loose when the police turn up.

HOW IT PLAYS

Turn the rotating bezel or crown to steer, or swipe across the screen if your watch has no crown. The wheel stays where you leave it, so a drift is something you set up and ride rather than something you tap. Your car is always at full throttle; the only thing you control is the angle.

You score by going sideways. The wider the gap between where the car is pointing and where it is actually traveling, the faster the points stack up. Straighten out and the score stops.

THE CHASE

Five seconds into a run, sirens flash and a police car drops in behind you. It does not trail your bumper: it reads your line and cuts inside the corner to meet you. On contact it rams, and a red meter creeps around the top of the display. Fill it and you are caught. Break away and it drains. You can out-corner the police, but only if you commit to the drift.

FOUR ARENAS, FOUR FEELS

- City Center: standard grip, with cones, tires, barrels and hydrants to clip
- Frozen City: ice underfoot and almost no grip, for long lazy slides past snowmen
- Drylands: loose sand, cacti and tumbleweeds
- Mud Town: slick mud, fallen logs and stumps

Obstacles are scattered fresh for every run. Hitting one costs you your speed, not your run.

SIX CARS

Coins are dropped around every arena, and they buy cars: Rookie, Swift, Thunder, Shadow, Blaze and Phantom. Each has its own top speed and drift balance. A slide-happy car breaks loose easily but wants a lighter touch, while a fast car covers ground and is harder to hold sideways.

BUILT FOR THE WRIST

- A standalone Wear OS app: no phone and no companion app to install
- Completely offline. The app requests no internet permission at all
- No ads, no in-app purchases, no accounts and no sign-in
- Laid out for round displays, with the score kept clear of the bezel
- A separate high score for every arena
- Runs are short by design, for the gap between other things

Retro pixel art, one input, and a police car that will not leave you alone.