Dredge: a calm fishing game until the sun goes down
Dredge is a fishing adventure with a horror edge by Black Salt Games, a small team from New Zealand. It came out on March 30, 2023 on PC and consoles, published by Team17, and reached iPhone and Android in February 2025. You captain a small trawler, sell your catch and slowly learn what is wrong with the sea.
How Dredge plays
Days are for work. You sail out from the town of Greater Marrow, find fishing spots and play a short timing minigame to land each catch. Your hold is a grid, so fitting fish of different shapes is its own small puzzle.
Time passes when you move and fish. When night falls, a panic meter starts to climb if you stay out in the dark. Panic brings strange things: rocks that were not there, shapes in the fog, things that attack the boat. Good lights keep it down, and sleeping at the dock resets it.
Some fish come up wrong. These aberrant fish look twisted and sell for more. A mysterious man called the Collector asks you to find lost relics around the islands, and that quest pulls you into the story.
Tips for your first nights
- Buy lights early. Lights let you see at night and keep panic lower.
- Head home at dusk. Most early trouble comes from staying out one catch too long.
- Upgrade the engine. A faster boat means more fishing time and quicker escapes.
- Sell the strange ones. Aberrant fish are worth more money, so keep them when you can.
A night-sea game on Roam
- Lighthouse Has Legs. A separate Roam game: deliver the cargo across a dark sea and stay out of the red beam. It shares Dredge's mix of boat work and dread.
Play it on Roam
More on Roam
Make your own spooky sea game with Roam
Roam is a free iPhone app that turns a description into a playable game. Say what you fish, what lives in the fog and what happens after dark. Roam is rated 13+ on the App Store.
Try: "fishing boat game, calm by day, after dark the fog brings sea monsters, sell weird fish to upgrade my boat"Roam ("Roam - Make Games" on the App Store) is an iPhone app where you play games and make your own by describing them or from a photo. It is free to download and play, and making games works without a subscription; optional Spark and Reality plans and credit packs add more creation. Android: pre-register on Google Play.
Questions people ask
Is Dredge on mobile?
Yes. Dredge came to iPhone and Android in February 2025, almost two years after the PC and console release.
Is Dredge a horror game?
It is a fishing adventure with horror elements. Days are calm, and the scary parts mostly come at night and in the story.
Who made Dredge?
Black Salt Games made it. Team17 published the PC and console versions.