Most of the achievements in The Drifter are tied to normal progress through the game's chapters and so are guaranteed to be obtained on a typical run. This guide covers the nine achievements that might normally be missed, presented in approximately the order they can be unlocked.

This game is brand new and I am only an enthusiastic fan so some information may be inaccurate but I will amend it as more information is found.

MANY SPOILERS AHEAD

In the opening, when you land by the underpass, discuss the jerry can with Bill. Due to the order of events this is easy to miss, so to make sure you get it, head right and grab the jerry can immediately before you even talk to Bill.

This is a reference to the Monkey Island games and the fact that Guybrush can hold his breath for ten minutes. In the opening sequence where you're under water, simply wait for ten real world minutes to pass (maybe a good time to have a break and grab a drink) and you'll get this achievement. You can also get this much later in the game during the final chapter in another section where you find yourself under water.

In chapter 2, when you first encounter the caretaker in the graveyard and have to grab the brick from behind him, try to throw the brick at the caretaker. This may require speaking to the caretaker beforehand.

When you're offered the 'squeeze' drink by the man outside the Herald building (the item is necessary for a puzzle so you can't miss this), give it back to him and then take it from him repeatedly until you get this achievement.

Survive the puzzle in chapter 3 with the monster under the graveyard without dying. This may require saving and reloading if you mess up. Once you're underground, the puzzle solution is: use the oily rag with the hook by the recesses (not the hook at the extreme right), use the lighter with the rag, interact with the bricks in the corner, when the monster arrives, hide in the shadowy recesses, when the monster passes you, step out and go left out of the tunnel, use your knife on the roots holding the support beams, then the monster should destroy the support beams and inadvertently kill itself. The actual achievement will not pop up until you awaken in the hospital after having survived the encounter in the coffin.

When you first arrive at the suburban house with Sarah in chapter 4, there's food from the wake on the kitchen counter. Repeatedly interact with it and you'll get this achievement.

In chapter 4, part of the puzzle involves taking the caretaker's thermos flask and filling it with tea with your kettle from home. Try to offer the thermos of tea to anyone/everyone you can meet. You can offer tea to: Sarah (at the house), detective Hara (at the underpass), the woman at the Herald (the Herald), Dr Nazari (the hospital), the caretaker (the cemetery; he takes the thermos off of you but you can take it back) and the "Butcher" (chapter five, you can offer him the thermos when he first attacks you in his lab in the dark). I also tried offering tea to the two soldiers on the ground during the section where you escape from the Herald but I don't know if that matters. You can also offer people tea from the kettle when several people are gathered at the house at the beginning of chapter 6 but I don't know if this counts.

In Chapter 5, when you're captured by the "Butcher", once you have the masonry (that you get from scratching at the wall behind you with the hook) in your inventory, throw it at your captor as he's bent over the workbench and he'll take off his hat.

Complete the game without dying more times than is necessitated by the plot. The plot-essential deaths are:
- drowning at the beginning
- killed twice when being questioned by the "Butcher" in chapter 5
- killed to go and save your sister in chapter 7
- several necessary deaths to go back in chapter 8 (I counted 5 deaths in this chapter so really it's 9 deaths across the game, not 9 lives as the achievement description implies)

This is obviously much easier on a second play-through or if played with a guide handy. Make sure to save-and-reload frequently in case you make a mistake. Some non-obvious ways that you can die that may catch you out:
- when you wake up in the hospital bed, make sure to remove the iv drip after the 'nurse' messes with it.
- when escaping from the Herald building, remember to use your ersatz grappling hook to open the lid below you before dropping from the roof.
- during the sequence in the finale where you have to keep dying in order to head further back in time, it's actually possible to get ahead of yourself and die in a way that you're not supposed to (yet). I found this out when I died falling from the bridge on the lowest floor before dying from the electricity on the floor above.