Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗The Drifting Crown
Sponge Hammer Games · Published by Sponge Hammer Games · Official site ↗
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
A Victorian-era steampunk, action adventure game with roguelike elements where death is inevitable, monsters get nastier every run, and your noble quest to reopen the only pub left standing. Build your way to success, upgrade your skill tree to become more powerful, dispatch your enemies in style!
Action, Adventure, Indie, Strategy · More free games
Embark on a quest to reopen the last pub in a steampunk world, facing nastier monsters with every death. Build your skills and upgrade to dispatch enemies in style.
About this game
The Drifting Crown
The Drifting Crown is a Victorian-era steampunk action-adventure rogue-lite where every run reshapes the world and every death brings you one step closer to reopening the last pub on Earth.
Why the pub?
Because when the ale runs dry, civilisation collapses. And frankly, no one survives the apocalypse sober.
Build the World. Brave the Ruins. Die. Improve. Repeat.
Before each run, you rebuild the shattered world using mystical tiles you’ve earned through survival (and failure).
Forests, sludge-choked fields, and industrial wastelands. Each run being unique to you:
Your route
Your rewards
The horrors waiting for you in the dark
Dive in. Fight brutal enemies. Scavenge upgrades. Push your luck.
You will die, but every run makes the next one deadlier… for them.
Death Is Inevitable. Progress Is Permanent.
Failure isn’t the end, it’s the plan.
Each run unlocks:
Stronger weapons
Upgraded gear
New tiles, paths, and secrets
Until one day, you’re powerful enough to survive long enough to earn that drink.
Key Features
Roguelike Combat with Teeth
Every run is different. Enemies evolve. Mistakes are punished. Learning is mandatory.
Tile-Based Worldbuilding
Reconstruct each area before you explore it. Shape the world, unlock shortcuts, and decide which dangers you’re willing to face.
Upgrade or Perish
Spend hard-earned currencies to improve weapons, gear, and abilities, because dying slightly slower is progress.
The Pub Hub
Your central base for upgrades, characters, and story. A place of refuge in a world that desperately needs one.
Steampunk Style & British Humour
A Victorian-inspired apocalypse of pipes, gears, sarcasm, and stubborn optimism.
Save the Pub. Save the World.
The ruins are crawling with monsters. Machines meant to protect humanity have lost their minds.
The world is falling apart, but as long as there’s hope, humour, and one last drink to be poured, it’s not over yet.
Grab your weapon. Face another fatal run.
And remember:
Save the pub. Save the world.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel i5 1335 (8th gen)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: nVidia RTX 2050
- DirectX: Version 10
- Storage: 4 GB available space
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Patch 05
Introducing Tile EnergyPatch 05 for The Drifting Crown Demo is here, and this one makes a fairly big change to how building your map works. Placing tiles now costs Energy.As you explore, you’ll need to collect Energy Points and decide how to spend them when expanding your map. Energy can be restored by defeating enemies or found inside chests.This changes the flow of a run quite a bit. Building your route is now tied more closely to what you do while exploring it, and you’ll need to keep an eye on how much Energy you have before choosing your next tile.If you've played the demo before, we recommend replaying the tutorial. It has been updated to explain the new system.We've also added the UI needed to make Energy easier to keep track of:Your current Energy is now shown in the UIMap cards display their Energy costThe map cursor turns red when you can't afford a tileTiles with uncollected Energy are marked on the mapEnergy can be upgraded from the mapNew floating text gives feedback when placing tilesTutorial messages now explain how Energy worksThe shop's Energy machine now has its own descriptionGameplay ChangesWe've made several other changes to progression and combat:Upgraded and expanded the drop systemAdded Shield upgrades to tile edge connectionsAdjusted Permanent Upgrade prices and valuesFixed Stat Upgrade Shop valuesIncreased the combat budget to allow for more enemy variety during encountersUI and Map ImprovementsAlongside the new Energy UI, we've made another pass over the map and ability selection:Improved the Ability Choice screen, replacing cards with clearer buttonsShield and Energy can now be upgraded directly from the mapChanged the map filter layoutUpdated map Stat Upgrade iconsStat Upgrade HUD popups now resize based on how many upgrade types you've earnedFixed the incorrect Bow input shown during the tutorialArt and VFXWe've continued working on the environments and readability:Added new Energy pickup visualsImproved meshes and UVs across a number o...Read full article on Community Announcements (csaba.berenyi)Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Patch 04
Patch 04 for The Drifting Crown demo is now live.This one touches quite a few areas of the game. We've done a larger art and UI pass, added more environmental hazards and destructible objects, introduced the new compass and upgrade station, continued improving the audio, and fixed a number of gameplay issues.AudioWe've continued working on the audio and how the game responds to what is happening around the player.Refactored how footstep sounds are handled.Added speed-dependent equipment sounds to Alex.Added more sounds to hazard areas.Refined several explosion sound effects.Added separate fire sounds to the new particle systems.Refined the upgrade sounds and changed them to 2D audio so they're easier to recognise.Continued refining the parry and charge sound effects.Added more audio detail to destructible objects.Environment and ArtWe've added more variation and detail to the environment, as well as more things for the player to interact with — and destroy.Added more tile variations.Added new environmental hazards and destructible objects.Built the new upgrade station.Updated the brick and wood materials.Added edge wear to metal assets.Optimised vertex counts on a number of assets.Fixed some textures loading at a blurry resolution.UI and MapThe UI has had a fairly substantial art pass in this patch as we continue to settle on the visual style of the game.Full UI art pass with an updated art style.New 3D art for the main menu.New artwork for the compass.Added the compass prompt to the HUD.Added a button prompt to the map icon on the HUD.Added artwork for the new upgrade tile.Added UI sounds to the difficulty selection screen.GameplayThe biggest new gameplay addition in this patch is the player compass. This should make navigating the world and keeping track of useful locations a bit easier.We've also made some changes to quests, conversations and the upgrade flow.Added the player compass.Set up the new upgrade station card.Added a fixed player location during NPC con...Read full article on Community Announcements (csaba.berenyi)Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Patch 03 is Live!
We've continued working through your feedback while adding more polish across the demo. This update focuses on improving readability, making the world feel more alive, and refining the overall gameplay experience through a mix of visual, audio, and quality-of-life improvements.Thank you to everyone who has played the demo, wishlisted the game and taken the time to send us feedback. Every update is shaped by what we're seeing and hearing from players.Audio ImprovementsUpdated player movement sounds.Added more equipment sound effects to Alex's movement.Battle music is now louder during combat encounters.Improved the sound effects for wooden destructible objects.World & Visual ImprovementsAdded many new environment tile variants to increase visual variety.Added more destructible objects and environmental hazards throughout the world.Updated lighting in the Stat Shop.Improved wooden materials across a number of environment assets.Updated destructible objects.Improved environmental hazard visuals and effects.Added new artwork for the Upgrade Station.Gameplay & UXImproved objective animations.Shopkeeper conversations now use improved camera angles.Health upgrades are now labelled "Max Health" for better clarity.Electric boxes now glow blue when receiving power from the map.Powered map tiles now display green energy beams when connected to batteries.Updated map stat pin colours for better visibility.Improved stat text styling in the pause menu.Behind the ScenesWe've also made a number of technical improvements that will help us build future content more reliably, including additional analytics, map systems, and general stability improvements.As always, thank you for helping us shape The Drifting Crown. Please keep the feedback coming, join us on our Discord, and don't forget to wishlist the game if you're enjoying the demo. Every bit of feedback helps us make the game better.Read full article on Community Announcements (csaba.berenyi)Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Patch 02 is Out!
Demo Patch 02 is Live!Another update is here!We've been working through your feedback while continuing to polish the demo. This update focuses on combat, visual improvements, UI updates and another round of bug fixes. Thanks again to everyone who has been playing, wishlisting the game and sharing feedback. Every update helps us make The Drifting Crown a better experience.GameplayTweaked run rating values.Chomper enemies now fire projectiles.Archer single-shot attacks can now be parried.More player abilities are now available from the start of the demo.Enemy stats have been rebalanced.Visual ImprovementsUpdated visual effects for knockdowns.Improved visual effects for several player abilities.Added dialogue cameras for shopkeepers.Added a camera effect to charged attacks.Added electricity effects to all lights.Updated game notification visuals.Added icons to levers that require a special key.Created new destructible environmental assets.UIThe Run End screen now displays collected upgrades and the selected difficulty.Added Impossible difficulty to the difficulty selection screen.Added a Close button to the difficulty selection screen.Bug FixesFixed several collision issues.Fixed a gamepad navigation issue on confirmation dialogues.Fixed the card stack refresh issue on the Map Editor HUD.Various other minor bug fixes and polish improvements.As always, thank you for helping us shape the game. Please keep the feedback coming, join us on Discord, and don't forget to wishlist The Drifting Crown if you're enjoying the demo.Read full article on Community Announcements (csaba.berenyi)Patch NotesOfficial
Demo Patch 01 is Out!
Since releasing the demo last week, we've been listening to your feedback, watching people play, fixing bugs and adding polish wherever we could.Thank you to everyone who has downloaded the demo, wishlisted the game, reported bugs, or simply stopped by to tell us what you think. It genuinely helps us make the game better.If you haven't already, please wishlist The Drifting Crown on Steam. It makes a huge difference for a small indie team like ours. We'd also love to have you on our Discord. Come and chat with us, tell us what you enjoyed, what frustrated you and what you'd like to see next.Here's what's changed in Patch 01.ImprovementsLever movement is now faster and snappier.Added camera shakes in several situations.Updated the base enemy behaviour.Tweaked and improved random chest appearance, player abilities and enemy attacks.Balanced player and enemy stats.Added artwork around the edge of the map grid to make the map boundaries easier to see.Updated the confirmation screen to create more room for heading text and improve performance.Improved the enemy attack warning exclamation marks.Added overhead speech bubbles to merchants so it's easier to tell they can be interacted with.Expanded our analytics to collect more data around the Electricity quest so we understand how people interact with the various quest elements.Improved the Chomper enemy damage sound.Added "spot player" voices to enemy landing animations.Updated visuals for the following abilities: AvoidDeath, SpeedBoost, ParryCounterAttack, DashAttack Added new types of DestructiblesBug FixesFixed tutorial objectives.Chomper enemies will no longer be stunned when their attack is blocked.Roboto's attack pattern no longer resets when stunned.Fixed the Relay 01 combat trigger.Fixed the Electricity quest persistence between levels.Purchased abilities now correctly appear on the Shop Tile.Fixed a delay when updating the volume settings.Fixed some UI textures loading in a pixelated state.Fixed lighting when retur...Read full article on Community Announcements (csaba.berenyi)
