Well, it looks like my indie gaming streak continues. I was planning on playing through Paper Mario (and probably still will), but a likely-broken cartridge and a recommendation from a friend might have changed that. See, I recently had a friend tell me about “Dredge”: an indie game about being a fisherman in seemingly quiet part of the world. I’m usually the sort of person who ignores fishing minigames in larger games, so something focused completely on fishing is not something I’d normally be all that keen to play. If my friend hadn’t insisted that it was a fantastic game, I’d likely have never given it a chance. So it’s with some surprise that I can announce that Dredge is actually managing to reel me in, as it were.

I’m not very far into Dredge, so I can’t really speak to its quality yet, but I’m liking what I’ve seen of it so far. Going into it, my biggest concern was that this was a FISHING game, as in I’d have to do all kinds of micromanaging in order to actually catch something. Thankfully, the fishing itself is very simple. All you have to do is equip your boat with the proper equipment and then complete a very brief minigame in order to catch something. I very much appreciate this, because it allows you to play the game without getting overly distracted by minutia. You’re a fisherman, and you’re just going out and getting your catch each day. Well, at least you are at first.

There’s something off about the little island town you’re fishing for. It’s not so much that there’s something wrong with the place or people, but more like there’s something everyone knows that you don’t. They warn you not to go fishing at night, but won’t say why, for example. The thing is though, I wound up doing it anyway and I didn’t see anything.

I’m sure something is lurking out there, but I haven’t encountered it (yet), whatever it is. There’re also an oddly large number of shipwrecks in the area too. Certainly they’re in spots that the town’s lighthouse can’t reach, but there are still more than you’d think there should be. Is there something nefarious going on or are they just accidents? Then there are the…aberrations.

Every so often, you’ll catch a fish that is clearly different from the rest, and not in a good way. Carps with giant, staring eyes, squid with tongue-like appendages and other strange creatures will get pulled up every now and then, yet no one seems to bat an eye at it. Heck, the town fishmoner will even pay a premium for them, what’s up with that? Needless to say, these questions present a compelling reason to keep playing. Then there’s the artstyle.

Dredge is generally rather simplistic, as is someone took The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker’s aesthetic, washed-out the colors and simplified the geometry of most things. Character portraits, on the other hand, seem very much inspired by Dishonored. Everyone looks a bit ugly, a bit worn out, and yeah, a little bit sinister too. The same is true for the portraits of the fish you catch. It all helps to cement the game’s overall sense of unease and makes you want to get to the bottom of what’s going on even more.

This is all to say that Dredge has started-off very strongly. I like the atmosphere, the artstyle and the simple, no nonsense gameplay. There’s definitely some depth to dig into with upgrading / outfitting your boat and deciding how to use your time, but it’s not so involved that it takes away from the rest of the game. I’m enjoying being a fisherman in a sleepy island town for now, and am hoping it’ll stay that way.

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Have you played Dredge? What do you think of it? Have you played anything recently that hooked you despite being something you normally wouldn’t play?

Image from Dredge PlayStation Store page