What if your relaxing fishing trip took a dark turn? That is the core premise of Dredge, the debut title from developer Black Salt Games. Available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, Dredge has earned widespread acclaim for its inventive genre mashup. It masterfully blends the calm of a simulation game with the unease of psychological horror, creating a unique experience that has captivated players since its release in 2023.
What is Dredge?
At its heart, Dredge is a single-player adventure where you captain a small fishing trawler. During the day, you explore a mysterious archipelago, catch various fish, sell your haul, and upgrade your boat. This gameplay loop is satisfying, offering a unique blend of atmospheric exploration and light management mechanics. It is distinct from games like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, both in gameplay and in the amount of time you’ll spend with it, as progression and collection play a supporting, not central, role here.
However, when night falls, the atmosphere shifts dramatically. The serene waters become treacherous, filled with phantom rocks, ghostly apparitions, and massive sea monsters inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror. A “panic” meter rises the longer you stay in the dark, inducing hallucinations and attracting unseen threats. This duality is what makes Dredge so compelling. It is a game of risk versus reward. Do you brave the terrifying night to catch rare, valuable fish, or do you retreat to the safety of the nearest dock?
Who is this game for?
Dredge is for players who appreciate atmospheric games that build tension without relying on jump scares. If you enjoy exploration, mystery, and a slow-burning narrative, you will feel right at home. Its stylized art direction and well-crafted sound design, along with the tranquil lap of waves by day and the eerie creaks and distant calls at night, play a central role in shaping the game’s immersive, tense mood.
The game’s story unfolds through conversations with unsettling islanders and notes found in bottles, slowly revealing the dark secrets of the archipelago. Expansions like The Pale Reach and The Iron Rig add even more content, introducing a frozen biome and a sinister oil rig, each with its own story and unique horrors to survive.
What Dredge is not
It is essential to set the right expectations. While Dredge has fishing, it is not a deep fishing simulator like Ultimate Fishing Simulator. The economic and management systems are simple. The game utilizes fishing as a means to its primary focus: exploration and narrative-driven horror. Players seeking a complex simulation may find the mechanics too superficial. The main story is also relatively short, though completing the fish encyclopedia and all side quests extends the experience significantly.
The Future of Black Salt Games
Dredge has achieved notable success, selling over one million copies in its first seven months. Following this success, Black Salt Games announced that it had concluded content development for Dredge. The New Zealand-based developer is now expanding its team to work on a new, unannounced title. While details are scarce, the studio has confirmed that it will be developed using the same engine and will carry a “similarly sinister” undertone.
Dredge remains a standout debut, demonstrating how the right mix of atmosphere and originality can turn a simple fishing trip into an experience that stays with players long after the voyage ends. Given the creativity shown in Dredge, the developer’s next project is one to watch.
YouTube: DREDGE | Announcement Trailer
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Photo credit: The images shown are owned by and provided by Black Salt Games and Team17.
Editorial notice: We received a press test key to play this game in preparation for the article, but we were not compensated for this.
