On the surface, it looks idyllic, maybe even cute, but Dredge has a lot of dark undercurrents going on. Dubbed as an “unusual fishing RPG” by Team17 and New Zealand developer Black Salt Games, Dredge was announced late last year and was showcased on GamesCom 2022. You can check out its announcement trailer here:
The game starts off with you playing a fisherman lost at sea and ending up in an isolated fishing village, located in an archipelago called “The Marrows.” The people there prove strange and somewhat sinister—the mayor most of all. He lets you stay in the village on the condition that you help feed the villagers by plying your trade. So off you go on your new fishing boat, trawling the waves for fish, of which there are 125 species to catch.
Dredge uses a rhythm-based mini-game for fishing and a Tetris-like inventory system for storing them. But you also find little treasures and items that you can trade in the village. Life becomes routine as you go out each day to work and come back at sunset. So far, so good.
At some point, though, your quests will lead you to fish at night, and things take a turn for the worse. Now you must navigate dangerous rock formations that show up among the waves. The fish you catch have now mutated into hideous forms (but will still sell for good money). Worse still, eldritch monsters appear in the sea—some climb into your boat to destroy your haul, while the enormous ones attempt to turn your ship into its next meal. The peaceful fishing game is now a survival horror one that echoes other great titles like Sunless Sea, and to an extent, the thalassophobia-inducing Subnautica. Eventually, you will have to investigate the dark history of The Marrows before you wind up at the bottom of the ocean—or worse.
Dredge is currently under development and is set for release on Steam sometime in 2023. You can keep track of a Dredge PC key with our comparator.
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