Fishing and horror go hand in hand. That’s what the horror fishing indie game Dredge confirms. From New Zealand indie team Black Salt Games, it’s a lovely experience involving sailing away out on the beautiful ocean.

That’s right up until the merciless Lovecraftian horror kicks in and turns the concept on its fish head. Oh and it’s a good game, by the way.

Dredge for Relaxing Times and Lovecraftian Finds

This is like Sega Bass Fishing on the Dreamcast meets Spiritfarer (2020).

Sort of. But with added sim management stuff. It’s a hodgepodge of genres, but we mean hodgepodge in the nicest possible way. Like, “Gee, what a nice hodgepodge!”

In this one you take control of a small fishing boat in the fictional coastal town of Greater Marrow. After being stranded there the helpful local mayor offers you a job as a fisherman. The result is you:

• Go out fishing.
• Dredge the ocean for supplies.
• Earn money and improve your little boat.

There’s a day/night cycle to adhere to, during which time if you’re out at night the Lovecraftian horror elements kick in with eerie occurrences. How does it all go? Here’s the first 20 minutes or so.

We like Dredge a great deal. It spends its time offering a lovely sense of ambiance and relaxation as you play along.

You upgrade your ship, fish some more, and enjoy the relaxing vibes.

Then from time to time the HORROR element rears its terrifying head (although the scary stuff is actually pretty tame going, really, hardly on Heildwald Loophole level or anything).

The gameplay is rather charming, letting you just loll about on the ocean waves if you so wish. You’re in no hurry to get anything done in this one.

Dredge looks great with a kind of cell shaded art style (not unlike Nintendo’s Wind Waker, which this game does remind us of a bit).

There’s also a surprisingly forlorn soundtrack to go with proceedings by New Zealand composer David Mason.

Right, so we really enjoyed this one. It’s a slow burner in its structure and takes time to get the most out of.

It can be a little repetitive at times as all you’re doing is floating around and fishing. The gameplay mechanic for catching fish, and dredging, isn’t always the most engaging. But the variety of things to get up to is admirable here.

Surprisingly, the press reaction to Dredge was mixed.

It launched in March 2023 (you cab get it on all consoles and PC), but the likes of Destructoid handed over 6/10. Quite harsh! IGN provided 8/10 and PC Gamer 89/100. Which is fairer, we think.

There are fish. There are sunsets. And it’s an idyllic time of it (in between the enormous fish monsters trying to drag you into the murky depths). Hurray!

The Relaxing Times in Dredge

The main thing we got from Dredge was just a chillaxed time of it. Really, it’s largely a relaxing game (with some horror elements).

Kind of like sailing in general when you think about it. Really peaceful… right up until your boat is tipped over by a rogue wave or enormous 32 tentacled octopus.

Sure, the horror elements bubble beneath the surface at all points.

But many of the in-game days can be spent larking about on the ocean, catching cod or squid, or dredging up planks of wood.

Then off you go back home to port to cash in your swag for the day.

Charming stuff! A sedate pace and not for everyone, but these relaxing moments in Dredge make it a rather enjoyable time of it indeed for us.