Drift In Danger
Table of Contents
Summary
Top-down drifting meets homing missiles in this surprisingly addictive arcade game, where the goal is (seemingly) simple: keep sliding and don’t get blown up. Your drift car auto-accelerates around a parking lot filled with obstacles while an endless swarm of homing missiles targets your car, and just one hit is all it takes to end your run.
Old-school gamers will likely clock the old-school GTA bird’s-eye vibe straight away, but this one opts to swap the carjacking for clipping zones and cop chases for guided explosives. It looks simple, but you’ll soon realize it’s far more challenging than you’d think.
The longer you survive, the more cash you’ll earn, especially once you start racking up combos. Shield power-ups help buy you extra lives along the way, and you’ll need to trick the missiles into crashing into each other with your sideways skills.
Once you’ve racked up enough cash, there’s a handful of familiar cars to unlock with your earnings, featuring speed and handling boosts that make it even more intense.
Features
- Release date – September 2018
- Difficulty – Beginner
- Levels – 1
- Number of vehicles – 9
- Vehicle customization/upgrades – No (Stat boosts with upgraded cars only)
- Multiplayer – No
- Mobile – Yes
- Developer – N1ckba
Physics
The drifting physics are smooth and predictable. Your car has proper weight to it, and transitions side-to-side naturally enough that you can throw a backie before whipping it back the other way to avoid the incoming missiles.
Drifting game fans might remember the physics in Arcade Car Drift, which are somewhat similar, but Drift In Danger offers more grip and predictability compared to the “sliding on ice” feel you get there.
Graphics
The visuals are simple by design, and that’s part of what makes it great. The parking lot looks pretty dull, with red and white walls around the edges that you can run if you need (or want) to. The cars are small and basic, but you can still pick out what’s obviously a Lambo, a Ford GT, and a few other familiar supercars.
Its low visual clutter actually helps, since it makes the more important aspects like the missiles and red exclamation marks at the screen edges stand out.
Controls
PC/laptop/Chromebook
- A/Left arrow – Steer left
- S/Right arrow – Steer right
Your car accelerates on its own and there’s no brake, so the only way to scrub speed is by pulling off bigger angles. For this reason, it’s surprisingly good for practicing backward entries!
Mobile/tablet (iOS/Android)
- Use the on-screen slider
The slider is intuitive once you get the hang of it, just push it further toward the edges for bigger drift angles. It’s a little trickier than the keyboard, and since your phone has a lower resolution, the missiles come in from the edges way quicker (so keep your eyes glued to those exclamation marks more than ever!)
Make sure you also check out our mobile games collection, where we’ve got plenty more phone-friendly picks.
How to Play Drift In Danger
Initial setup
The main menu shows your cash balance in the top-left and a sound toggle in the top-right.
In the center at the bottom, there’s an info screen that runs through the objectives, which are simple enough – drift, dodge missiles, grab power-ups, and survive for as long as you can.
In the menu, you can press the small arrow on the right to scroll through the car list. Once you’re past the first car, left and right arrows appear either side of the big ‘Play’ button (the one wrapped in red and white walls).
Each car shows its price and stat boosts, and the shopping cart icon in the middle handles purchases when you’re ready to upgrade your whip.
Getting started
You’re thrown straight into the action with the car automatically driving at full throttle. You’ll find your current drift score at the top center, and when you hold a clean drift without transitioning or losing your angle, you’ll watch your combo climb, which is where you quickly earn big bucks. Big sweeping runs around the outside of the arena are where the real money is, just be sure to keep an eye out for fresh missiles!
Cones scattered around the lot give you a slight dink and will make you lose your combo, and the oil barrels are heavier and can kill your momentum completely.
The red and white barriers bounce you off without damage, though a hard wall hit can wreck your angle and potentially let the incoming missile blow you up if you slow down too much in the process.
If you enjoy the concept in this one, Mr. Drifter: Car Chase Simulator is worth checking out, offering similar top-down chase pressure, but swapping missiles for cops along with a bigger car roster, power-ups like shields and freeze, and a full achievement system to grind through.
Game Modes
There’s no additional game modes beyond the “drift and survive” parking lot that you load into initially. Every run is about pushing your high score further and banking more cash for your next car. The clipping zones are a welcome additional challenge along the way for a quick bonus earner, especially if you manage to hit all the targets.
The game does get progressively harder as you start earning more cash and unlocking new rides. Although your car will be much more powerful and better at drifting, the missiles also get faster and more intense as you progress, which keeps things exciting for longer than you might think.
If you do want a little more, there are plenty of other choices out there that offer a similar concept. Drift.io brings the arcade-y energy but throws in online multiplayer along with weapons and a drift-to-boost function.
To take things up another notch, Survival Race is a popular pick that takes the arena survival concept even further, putting you on collapsing hexagonal platforms against real players where your own tire marks eat away the floor beneath you in a drift-and-fly, last-car-standing battle.
Car Selection
There are 9 cars, and as you probably guessed, they’re drift-ready from the jump (sorry Civic fanbois, there’s no front-wheel-drive cars here).
The starter car is free but kinda mediocre, which means the missiles often won’t have a problem catching you up. Thankfully, you’ll feel the difference the moment you unlock any of the upgraded rides, especially those with boosted stats.
When it comes to the stats (seen on the car selection screen), the rocket icon means speed, and the steering wheel means handling. Don’t let the rocket icon fool you, though. It just means the car goes faster, not that you get actual rockets (the missiles are already handling that department).
The cars and boosts are ranked like this (sorted by price and ability upgrade):
- Free (no boosts)
- 1,500 (Steering +1)
- 3,000 (Speed +1)
- 15,000 (Speed +1, Drifting +1)
- 40,000 (Speed +2)
- 60,000 (Speed +2, Drifting +1)
- 100,000 (Speed +3, Drifting +1)
- 120,000 (Speed +3, Drifting +2)
- 160,000 (Speed +4, Drifting +2)
We’d recommend unlocking at least one of the first two upgraded cars as soon as possible, since the jump in handling and speed makes every run way more fun and way more profitable. Once you’ve got those, start saving for one of the top-tier picks. If you find one boost more useful than the other, you’ll know what to aim for.
Fancy more variety? Drift Boss is another simple yet tough drifting game that packs 31 vehicles into a similarly simple one-button drifter that’s perfect for quick mobile sessions. There’s plenty more to choose from in our car games collection, too.
Tuning & Upgrades
The car stat boosts are the full extent of the “upgrades” in this game, so it’s worth figuring out which one you find most beneficial for your driving style early on so you can get saving.
Alongside the boosts, you will find power-ups in the game, displayed by a Shield icon (which stops a single missile).
There are also NOS bottle icons that appear (temporary speed boost), shooting blue flames out of the exhausts, but don’t rely on outrunning the projectiles, as the boost will soon run out!
Admittedly, most of us like to upgrade our cars. We totally relate. Thankfully, Drift Hunters MAX is the polar opposite, and it’s easy to see why it’s the most popular game at Drifted. You’re treated to a massive selection of performance upgrades – engine, turbo, gearbox, brakes, and weight, along with suspension geometry tuning across 39 cars and 13 tracks.
Force Drift Racing: Aussie Burnout goes even deeper with specific tire compounds, diff lock ratios, forced induction settings, and five upgrade tiers for each car, ranging from stock through to ultimate.
Advanced Tips & Tricks
Save your shields when necessary, but remember where they are
You can only equip one shield at a time, but you’ll often see several of them lying around the arena. So, if you already have one active, leave the next one where it is and make a mental note, or it’ll be wasted. Then, when yours inevitably pops (which will happen sooner than you’d like), you’ll know where they are.
Drift through the bonus clipping zones at the right angle
The bonus drift markers are your biggest cash earner. Each dot lights up yellow when you drift through with enough angle, or red when you’re not sideways enough, and grey if you miss it entirely. Plan your approach before you get there, and don’t rush in, since they won’t disappear. A clean sweep, especially if you’ve already got a combo, offers huge payouts.
Drift Rush builds an entire game around the same wall-proximity scoring concept, featuring “edge zones” along every track, similar to real-world clipping zones, generously rewarding you every time you get close to the walls and barriers.
Trick the missiles into crashing into each other
When you’ve got several missiles on your tail (just you wait), keep an eye on them to predict their movement and see if you can fool them into crashing into each other. They follow slightly different paths, and when two collide, they both explode. Getting a whole chain to pile into each other buys you a few precious seconds of breathing room and is easily the most satisfying thing in the game.
Watch out for the exclamation marks on the edges of the screen
Red exclamation mark icons flash at the edges of the arena to warn you where missiles are about to enter.
The faster blue-and-red and red-and-white variants are much faster than you might expect, so if you see a warning at the bottom of the screen, try to avoid being near that side of the parking lot. Give yourself plenty of space to react, especially on mobiles where the lower-resolution screen makes them appear even sooner. Police Chase offers a similar incoming-threat intensity, where swarms of police try to take you out while you attempt to drift your way to safety.
Drift In Danger FAQ
What’s the goal in Drift In Danger?
Drift for as long as possible while dodging homing missiles, and rack up the highest score/cash you can. Longer, cleaner drifts build bigger combos, and the bonus clipping zones are your fastest route to serious cash.
How many cars are in Drift In Danger?
Nine, ranging from a free starter with zero stat boosts up to 160,000 for the best speed and handling combo in the game.
What happens when a missile hits my car?
Instant game over, unless you’ve equipped a Shield beforehand. The Shield takes one hit for you, but there’s no stacking them, so be careful.
Can I play on my phone?
Yep. The mobile version uses a slider control that works great once you’re used to it. Bigger angles need a bigger slide, and it runs smoothly on most devices. There’s also a dedicated Drift In Danger app in the Google Play Store if you want added convenience.
Do the missiles get faster?
Yes. Green and red missiles roughly match your speed early on, but faster blue, white, and even red-and-black variants show up later on. These will often outpace you, so outsmart them with quick, sharp angle changes.
Is there multiplayer?
No. It’s solo only. Your competition is your own high score and seeing how long you can last before the missile count gets out of hand. We’ve got plenty more options that offer online multiplayer and lobbies in our multiplayer games category, though.
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Joe is an avid writer and car enthusiast. When he’s not cruising the streets alongside his friends in his Nissan Silvia S15, he’s drifting on his VR racing simulator.
Joe’s passion for cars is always on display. With a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of the automotive industry, he hopes his writing conveys his excitement and knowledge of cars and games.
Joe’s work has been featured on many platforms including drivetribe.com, 180sx.club, carthrottle.com, smartdrivinggames.com, smartbikegames.com, databox.com and ceoblognation.com.
When he’s not behind the wheel or at his keyboard, he’s likely daydreaming of his ultimate ride – the legendary Lexus LFA.
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