Driftwood
- June 1, 2023
- Stoked Sloth Interactive
- 8h median play time
Get on Steam"Driftwood is a single-player sport game where you longboard as a speedy sloth named Eddy, drifting through tight corners and performing tricks to unlock new boards and wheels. With sensational graphics, an exceptional soundtrack, and quirky humor, the game offers a relaxing, focused experience in a beautiful contained world, although it does have some bugs."
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a relaxing and chill experience with a great soundtrack and beautiful visuals.
- The drifting mechanics are satisfying and provide a rewarding gameplay loop, making it easy to pick up but hard to master.
- The game has a unique charm with its quirky character design and engaging level design, encouraging exploration and replayability.
- The controls can feel overly sensitive and twitchy, making it difficult to navigate corners smoothly.
- There are several bugs and glitches, including issues with clipping through the ground and inconsistent physics.
- The game currently lacks content, with only a few maps available, which may lead to repetitive gameplay over time.
- music175 mentions
- 59 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its chill, lo-fi vibe that perfectly complements the relaxing gameplay and beautiful visuals. Players appreciate the quality and atmosphere of the soundtrack, often describing it as a key element that enhances their overall experience, although many express a desire for more tracks to prevent repetition. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's immersive and enjoyable ambiance.
“The minimalist art style, infused with a chill vibe and lo-fi soundtrack, immerses players in a relaxed yet exciting atmosphere.”
“The soundtrack alone makes the game worth getting.”
“The music is so chill.”
“I hope there will be more music and tracks available in future updates.”
“Could use some more songs, great song quality but after 3 hours hearing a lot of the same (still good songs tho!).”
“The music and the chill aspect of this game is something that could have me playing this and just chilling with friends for hours and hanging out.”
- gameplay96 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally praised for its satisfying mechanics, blending high-speed thrills with precise drifting that rewards skill and creativity. While it offers a smooth and engaging experience, some players note inconsistencies in the mechanics and a lack of content, as it is still in early access. Overall, the game strikes a balance between being easy to pick up for casual play and providing depth for those looking to master its systems.
“This game offers a unique physics-based gameplay experience, balancing high-speed thrills with precise drifting mechanics, making every corner a challenge that rewards skill and creativity.”
“The gameplay is fluid and rewarding with an 'easy to learn yet difficult to master' sort of feel.”
“The various challenges for each map inspire honing your skills and exploring the branching paths of the maps, and it all makes for a rather satisfying gameplay loop.”
“My concern is that the gameplay itself is not great and yet we're already on the level of cute cosmetics and systemic unlocks.”
“The gameplay itself needs more work.”
“You clip through objects, fall through the ground, and to be honest the sliding mechanic isn't fun.”
- graphics85 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful and unique art style, which combines minimalist aesthetics with a relaxing lo-fi soundtrack, creating an immersive atmosphere. While some players noted minor graphical issues such as texture popping and short draw distances, these did not significantly detract from the overall enjoyment. The visuals are considered appealing and well-suited to the gameplay, making it a standout experience for many players.
“The minimalist art style, infused with a chill vibe and lo-fi soundtrack, immerses players in a relaxed yet exciting atmosphere.”
“The visuals are stunning; can't wait for more updates!!”
“Absolutely gorgeous art style and so much fun with all the challenges and details that go into it.”
“I did notice that in graphics settings there is bright red text that warns you to not go any higher than low settings on the deck.”
“Objects in the background keep disappearing and reappearing due to the short draw distance, which is distracting and ruins the art style.”
“When I'm going real fast the game lags so hard, I would much prefer to compensate graphics for a smoother experience.”
- stability22 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 95 % negative mentions
The game currently suffers from numerous stability issues, including frequent glitches, buggy animations, and problematic collision physics, which can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences such as infinite falls and crash loops. While players acknowledge these problems as typical for an early access title, the overall enjoyment of the game remains high despite the instability.
“Runs great on the Steam Deck, although it is a battery hog unless you keep the detail on low and set the framerate limiter.”
“A few glitches like sometimes after you've bounced around a bit, Eddy's animations will start facing backwards, and restarts that put you in pretty terrible positioning, like right before a jump where it's impossible to build any momentum to clear it.”
“Has too many glitches, instabilities, and bugs, such as going through the map and audio controls only affecting menu audio.”
“The game is super buggy and I can only play one round before I have to restart, go back to the main menu, and play again.”
- humor11 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with players finding joy in its janky mechanics, such as the off-road system and amusing ragdoll physics during wipeouts. The quirky elements, like the hilarious sticks of butter and a sloth's comical crashes, contribute to a lighthearted experience that keeps players entertained rather than frustrated. Overall, the game's blend of funny animations and a playful soundtrack enhances its comedic appeal.
“Hilarious and wild.”
“It is even funny to watch that sloth crashing through the air and doing 'the starfish'.”
“I'm terrible at skateboarding and I spend more time ragdolling than riding, but it's really fun, the wipeouts are hilarious rather than frustrating, and the soundtrack is great.”
- optimization10 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is a significant concern among users, with many reporting poor performance even on capable hardware, such as the Steam Deck and laptops that can run more demanding titles. While some players experience smooth gameplay, others encounter bugs, low frame rates, and unstable maps, indicating that the developers need to focus on improving optimization as the game progresses through early access. Regular updates and hotfixes are being released, but the current state suggests that the game is not yet fully optimized for a seamless experience.
“As this game is in early access, there are some performance issues or bugs like clipping through the ground or sometimes physics doing weird things, but if they can keep improving this and adding new content, this will absolutely be the best downhill longboarding game ever made.”
“I understand the game is still in early access and the team is still working on it, but I think with the game graphics it should run perfectly on my Steam Deck at 60 fps on high settings; however, it only runs at 30, so the devs should still work on optimization.”
“Dear developers, it's time to put some effort into optimization.”
“On low settings, the game breaks a lot and has low performance. On my laptop, which can run Far Cry 5, it was struggling, so it's a bit unoptimized, but stylistically, it's a really pretty game.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
Overall, the game offers significant replayability through its unique level layouts, extensive customization options, and a highscore system that encourages competition. Players can explore hidden paths and shortcuts, while the checkpoint system allows for a smoother experience after crashes. Despite currently limited maps, the inclusion of challenges and milestones enhances the incentive to replay each level.
“Plus, the ability to discover unintended shortcuts and hidden paths only adds to the charm and replayability of this downhill adventure.”
“Not a significant amount of content, but the content itself has high replay value because of the different paths and the pretty extensive customization.”
“The board/wheel/cosmetic unlock progression is also well executed and provides yet another layer of replayability.”
“I like the feature where if you crash, you are not bound to start over again; you just start from the nearest checkpoint, which enhances the feel of replayability.”
“There is a lot of replayability due to the high score system and the global ranking.”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 71 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a relaxing and immersive experience, enhanced by a minimalist art style and a lo-fi soundtrack that fosters a chill vibe. Players can enjoy the soothing sounds while engaging in gameplay, creating a balance between relaxation and excitement. Overall, the combination of great music and thoughtful design contributes to a beautifully atmospheric environment.
“The minimalist art style, infused with a chill vibe and lo-fi soundtrack, immerses players in a relaxed yet exciting atmosphere.”
“Great music and beautiful atmosphere only add to the great vibes.”
“A relatively short although extremely relaxing downhill longboarding game that features great music, a thoughtfully crafted atmosphere, and easy to learn - hard to master sliding mechanics.”
- story6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Users feel that the story aspect of the game is lacking depth and engagement, suggesting the addition of NPCs and a more structured narrative to enhance the experience. While the multiple paths and missions provide replayability, the overall storyline is seen as sparse and in need of more content and clarity.
“Each level has multiple different paths and missions to do, so there is a good reason to replay each level.”
“It could use more content, maps, maybe even a campaign/storyline.”
“The world feels kind of lonely even with the random traffic; adding NPCs and a shop could enhance the text-based story mode.”
“The world feels kind of lonely even with the random traffic; it could really benefit from adding NPCs and a shop, or even a text-based story mode.”
“Some of the mission prompts are a bit ambiguously worded.”
“It could use more content, maps, and maybe even a campaign or storyline.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be enjoyable for casual play, as it offers a low skill floor and encourages players to improve their times and scores. However, some feel it lacks depth compared to other games in the genre, making it less engaging for those seeking a more challenging experience.
“It is a good game; however, coming off of 'Grinding Slackers: Carts of Glory', this feels lackluster for me personally.”
“At its core, it's a downhill skating game with a lot of mechanical depth, but a low skill floor, making it super fun for casual play or grinding out the best times or highest scores.”
