Most of the gamers that have played Dredge have something good to say about it, whether that’s the uniqueness of the game, the chilling but welcoming Lovecraftian aspect to it, the mechanics, the music…the list seems endless. All of them seem to agree on something though, and that is that Dredge is truly a one-of-a-kind game that provides a very enjoyable experience.
The main character is a fisherman that gets stranded in a little coastal town. The mayor is kind enough (or is he?) to provide him with a new boat that the character needs to repair and slowly pay off the debt by catching fish. All seems good, and with 125 deep sea…creatures, fishing seems like an easy task. But not all is as it seems, especially when night falls.
6 Unusual Genre Mash-Up
Fishing games are usually advertised as calming, meditative, relaxing, etc. And they are, since they mainly require repetitive motions and have a clear and/or open goal for the player, not to mention that the general atmosphere is very serene. Music, colors, and gameplay mechanics are all there to produce a feeling of calmness.
That is not the case with Dredge. Although it could still be considered a cozy game, it is creepy-cozy, like the cozy of Halloween or old gothic movies. It's not "mainly" this or that genre, it's horror and fishing in equal parts, and it is as unsettling as it is chill as if Lovecraft himself decided to move into a white picket fence neighborhood and tried to mingle. The results are interesting, to say the least.
5 Simple But Not Simplistic Mechanics
Dredge had the opportunity to be one of those games where even the smallest thing would become a struggle and the gamer would have to spend hours trying to move forward, until ultimately, they would either cheat, turn it off, or disappear from the word until they figured it out. Thankfully, the developers of Dredge decided that the game had enough to offer, and headaches wouldn't be part of the deal.
The goals are clear: fish (which is done by pressing a button and then solving an easy puzzle), collect money by selling the fish (self-explanatory, there are buyers in town), and make upgrades to the boat (there is limited space but still very, very manageable). The point is that while the player does all this, mysterious things start to happen, making the psychological aspect of the game its main feature.
4 Location, Location, Location
Small towns always offer something very close to the heart of gamers. A feeling of sinister hope, for a mystery that could be confined but that is not unsolvable - provided the hero would be willing to dig deep in what it seems is their own grave. In other words, small-town mysteries are cozy and eerie simultaneously, just like the whole atmosphere of Dredge.
It seems that the location and the genre perfectly complete each other. It is not only one thing, but a mash-up that even though it's not supposed to work, really does. The coastal town of Greater Marrow is trying to look unimportant and friendly, and maybe it can be, depending on how the gamer chooses to play.
3 Gothic Aspect
This game uses more than the atmosphere and the story to get under the player’s skin. While the circumstances of the hero definitely add to the whole “something is not right here,” the real terror comes from the player not knowing, or not being sure at least, if what they are experiencing is because of the terror or because the game is “like this.”
The developers introduced a thing called “Panic Meter,” which technically shows how terrified the fisherman is at any given moment. If they are in the dark, and they haven’t upgraded the light of the boat, so they can see further, it’s a safe guess to assume that they will be a bit jumpy. But that could easily turn to full-on horror because they start seeing things that might or might not be there and that could or could not hurt them. Just like in a good gothic novel, the player never knows if it’s all in their head and if they can take more, or if they had enough.
2 The Intriguing Side Quests
Some of the quests in Dredge are straightforward (or at least they seem to be), while others require the player to make some decisions that are going to have an effect that is not going to be possible to change. For example, players can choose to find a home for a stray dog in the Lost Dog Pursuit quest, which does not require much more than actually talking to some people and seeing who wants to adopt it.
For some other quests though, the player has to do them when they are in a panic state, or at night, or doing something that they really avoided doing throughout the whole game. Some quests might even disappear if the player is not careful with them and has a very strict way of playing the game.
1 Amazing Soundscapes
Dredge sound designers really gave it their all and made this game a true example of how sound can be part of the story and not just something that works as an addition. The mixture of natural sounds and an easy but sinister melody, makes the gameplay seem like a bomb that’s waiting to explode.
There is a lot to say about the use of music in this game, from whispers to the continuous use of calming sea sounds, to the sounds the boat makes when fishing or sailing. The soundtrack is mostly calming piano music that acts like a reminder of how good things can be, something that becomes doubly disturbing when the sun sets and suddenly all the sounds of the night seem to be attacking the boat and the player.
Dredge is currently available on PC, macOS, Linux, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.