DREDGE

Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.

Overwhelmingly PositiveOverwhelmingly Positive · 96%2023

−60%~~$24.99~~$9.99

US Steam price, checked 5 h ago

The verdict

A cozy-yet-creepy Lovecraftian fishing game with great atmosphere and a satisfying loop, but it turns repetitive and shallow after the first 10 hours. Skip it if you want real horror or depth.

Great for

Players who want a relaxing, atmospheric fishing and exploration game with light Lovecraftian spookiness

Main risk

The loop gets repetitive, the horror fades and the ending feels abrupt for the price

What players love

Cozy yet eerie Lovecraftian atmosphere

Mentioned in ~2 in 5 positive reviews

“Dredge is that perfect combination of cozy and sinister.”
Steam review · 5.9 h played ↗

“The frantic journey back to a port whilst the darkness is slowly engulfing you, and you start hearing strange noises around you in the water is absolutely priceless.”
Steam review · 25.3 h played ↗

“The mystical atmosphere of this game is so thick and well made you could scoop it with a spoon.”
Steam review · translated · 7.9 h played ↗

Satisfying fishing and upgrade loop

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“The loop is perfect. Catch fish, upgrade boat, get rich, lose mind, repeat.”
Steam review · 12.4 h played ↗

“Dredge possesses the most satisfying progression loop I've played in a long while.”
Steam review · 14.4 h played ↗

“I hated fishing until this game. Very addictive and vibey.”
Steam review · translated · 3.7 h played ↗

Beautiful art style and music

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“the illustration of the fish and marine animals is wonderful”
Steam review · 37.4 h played ↗

“the score is beautiful and evokes the nostalgic, somewhat melancholy sounds of ghibli films”
Steam review · 5.3 h played ↗

Relaxing, play at your own pace

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews

“I like to play this game after a stressful day or during weekends and breaks.”
Steam review · 32.1 h played ↗

“I love that it doesn't push you to complete the main storyline so that I can spend hours just fishing and completing the side quests.”
Steam review · 12.2 h played ↗

Collecting fish and aberrations

Mentioned in ~1 in 12 positive reviews

“The game has a "pokemon" aspect (gotta catch all the fish!) with abberations and exotic versions of some of them to make the hunt more exciting and engrossing.”
Steam review · 41.6 h played ↗

Well-paced, respects your time

Mentioned in ~1 in 25 positive reviews

“The developers understand that an enjoyable game doesn't need an endless open world with a hundred different collection or delivery quests that are just there to add "content".”
Steam review · 14.4 h played ↗

“it isnt too long of a game overall that i lose interest after a month or two, and isnt too short that it was over before i really felt like i could get into it.”
Steam review · 23.6 h played ↗

What players complain about

Repetitive, shallow gameplay loop

Mentioned in ~3 in 5 negative reviews

“hour 13 of doing that is no more interesting or rewarding than hour 2 was”
Steam review · 18.7 h played ↗

“This is a lot of fluff around a single quick-time minigame mechanic.”
Steam review · 11.1 h played ↗

“The boat upgrades quickly, after which the whole game is running around the map and one-button fishing for the right species.”
Steam review · translated · 12.5 h played ↗

Fetch-quest design and thin story

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews

“the fetch quests started... and stayed as the only type of quest this game offers.”
Steam review · 8.7 h played ↗

“Only go-fetch quests and grinding resources and money, running back and forth.”
Steam review · translated · 10.7 h played ↗

Horror is weak and threats are trivial

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews

“It's actually very easy to avoid danger since the game barely forces you to go out at night, and before you know it your boat is faster than everything else.”
Steam review · 14 h played ↗

“it's not scary or difficult, it's a cozy game to turn your mind off to”
Steam review · 25.5 h played ↗

Short, abrupt, disappointing ending

Mentioned in ~1 in 10 negative reviews

“The ending of this game is a few seconds long before cutting to credits.”
Steam review · 12.5 h played ↗

“trash endings all that anticipation just for a 10 second cutscene.”
Steam review · 13.7 h played ↗

Overpriced for its length

Mentioned in ~1 in 10 negative reviews

“there's no way I can recommend shelling out $25 for a farming game that takes 15 hours or less to beat”
Steam review · 17.1 h played ↗

“The game isn't bad, but its price is excessively high for the quality.”
Steam review · translated · 27.2 h played ↗

DLC-gated content and achievements

Mentioned in ~1 in 12 negative reviews

“if you don't buy those DLCs, you WILL notice the gaping hole in the content of the game, the achievements list, and even some innocuous interactable objects.”
Steam review · 12.4 h played ↗

“With only the base game there are achievements from the DLC, so you can't get 100% without buying them.”
Steam review · translated · 22.5 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Verified

Minimum

OSWindows 10

ProcessorIntel Core i3-2100 | AMD Phenom II X4 965

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsNvidia 8800 GT 512MB | Radeon HD 6570 1GB

Storage2 GB available space

Recommended

OSWindows 10

ProcessorIntel Core i5-2550K | AMD FX-8370

Memory6 GB RAM

GraphicsNvidia GTS 450 1GB | Radeon HD 5770 1GB

Storage2 GB available space

OSWindows 10

ProcessorIntel Core i3-2100 | AMD Phenom II X4 965

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsNvidia 8800 GT 512MB | Radeon HD 6570 1GB

Storage2 GB available space

More games to check

Other games we’ve read the reviews for

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−20%

Voodoo Fishin'

Very Positive · 81%

+ Fun with friends

− Punishing gear loss on death

analyzed 4 d ago

Cat Goes Fishing

Very Positive · 94%

+ Relaxing, charming and cozy

− Bugs, softlocks and lost saves

analyzed 5 d ago

Villagers and Heroes

Mixed · 55%

+ Deep crafting, gathering and farming

− Aggressive cash shop and pay-to-win

analyzed 8 d ago

Professional Fishing

Mixed · 61%

+ Free to play without being pay to win

− Can't enter locations or endless loading

analyzed 9 d ago

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