Developer: Black Salt Games
Publisher: Team17
Steam Deck Compatibility?: Verified
Rrp: £21.99 (Gog.com, Humble and Steam)
Released: 30th March 2023
Available on: Gog.com, Humble and Steam
Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard
Approximate game length: 12+ Hours
Fishing on the open sea is well known for being a dangerous profession, with long periods out at sea being commonplace and if something goes wrong the chances of help getting to you on time are slim. However, when it comes to video games fishing is usually a relaxing low to no stakes activity. Dredge mixes those two together and throws in a heavy dose of eldritch horror just to keep things interesting.
In Dredge you take control of a small fishing boat in a distant archipelago, where you will catch all manner of sealife like crabs, octopus and the all seeing cod… I mean completely normal, regular cod.
To catch fish you first have to find a fishing spot, which are pretty easy to spot from the way the water’s surface is disturbed. Assuming you have the right equipment (more on that later), interacting with that patch of disturbed water brings you into a minigame. There are several different minigames but all of them involve timing. If you choose not to engage with the minigame you’ll still catch your fish but the process will be much slower. However, if you mess up the timing it actively delays you reeling in the catch.
Something else to keep in mind is that depending on if it’s the day or night different fish will appear.
Anything you catch goes into your cargo hold. The cargo hold (as well as the storage area) of your boat utilises an inventory grid system similar to the one used in the resident evil games, though in this case the sea life and items in there don’t stack.
All that fish you’ve caught can be sold to a fishmonger for a pretty penny. Of course, the bigger and fresher the fish is the more it’s worth. Occasionally you’ll also catch aberrant varieties that also fetch a higher price than the normal ones.
At the time of being caught the fish you catch will have the status of ‘fresh’, as the day goes on though that will eventually transition to ‘stale’ and eventually ‘rotten’. Stale fish can be sold but will sell for less and once a fish is rotten it can’t be sold and will have to be discarded.
As I mentioned earlier, different fishing spots require different equipment which you’ll first have to research and then buy, such as a rod that can handle oceanic fishing spots.
As the game progresses you’ll find a need to upgrade your ship, this can be done at a shipwright, however in order to do so you’ll require the materials to make those upgrades. Luckily all of these materials can be found floating in the ocean, generally rather near shipwrecks, all you’ll need to get them is a piece of equipment to dredge them up.
Anything you equipment you install or ship upgrade you make progresses the time, meaning it could severely interfere with that day’s fishing.
So as I’ve mentioned a few times the in game time matters, or rather whether it’s night or day. Night comes with a lot more risk, such as running into rocks you couldn’t see but it does more than that. At night you are at risk to become panicked, especially if you have skipped resting. Panic is depicted as an eye that appears at the top of the screen. The more panicked you are the more erratic the eye becomes and it starts to change colour. Panic causes new rocks to appear suddenly as well as some rather nasty entities. However, it isn’t all bad (just mostly) there are some objects that can only be interacted with when sufficiently panicked and being panicked also increases the chances of you catching aberrant sealife. Panic is reduced in the daytime and can be completely removed by sleeping at a port.
While you’re interacting with a fishing spot, port or not moving the in game time stops progressing. It will start up again the moment you move or activate a fishing mini game. However, this doesn’t mean that entities in the area around you cease to move or attack.
As you sail around and interact with the various people inhabiting the islands you’ll be given ‘pursuits’. These pursuits are quests that will help you advance the plot or unlock some kind of upgrade.
There is an encyclopedia that shows what you’ve caught, how many, whether they appear in the day or night and the various aberrations. It’s essentially a pokedex. Amusingly there are 151 types of sealife to catch, so I do wonder if it’s also something of a reference.
Within the accessibility menu there is a passive mode available which will disable scary events and cause monsters to ignore the player. A perfect fit for those that want to fish with none of the lovecraftian dread (apart from the aberrant fish).
I love that the somewhat creepy story is essentially optional. You can choose not to engage with it at all and just spend time catching fish. Though I feel you would miss the real meat of the game by doing that.
When I first heard of this game I truly wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. I often find fishing minigames to be boring and hate it when they’re essential to the progression. I’m so glad I gave this game the time and space it deserved, this is an absolute gem.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Subnautica
Backpack Hero
Look Outside
