DREDGE

Performance is fantastic on capable devices, and the game supports up to 120fps and controllers. UI is weird sometimes. When fishing with touch controls, the fish will appear at the last place you tapped which is likely on the left side of the screen. You then have to drag it to the right side to place it in your inventory. Why doesn’t it just appear in the inventory for you to adjust? When rotating a fish in your inventory, you get three options: Place, Rotate, Discard. If the fish is in an area of your inventory that it can’t be placed in, the Discard option takes the same position that Rotate just occupied. If you’re looking at the fish and not the buttons to the left of it, you could accidentally discard the fish instead of rotating it. The game sorta resolves this by making you tap and hold on Discard, but I find myself frequently having to check where I’m tapping. The three options could be designed to occupy the same place on the screen and Place can simply disappear when it’s not an option instead of Rotate and Discard shifting upward. “Back” at the bottom right is made more for a mouse cursor than for touch. It’s pretty small and you have to tap directly on it when you’re in a menu. If you’re using touch controls, a touch-based button should be a little larger, perhaps more like the menu options I mentioned above. There’s a few other weird things in the game, like how with some NPC requests you just have to remember where to resolve them, they may not show up in Core Pursuits. I don’t expect the game to hand-hold a ton, but some general guidance on fishing locations or a mark on the map would have been more helpful, especially as the game goes on and the novelty begins to wear.

There is absolutely no reason why people should be leaving this game a one star. Sure, it’s not for everyone, especially with the intense scenes and the eerie story, but come on. Just because you have to do a little extra work to get around the map and organize your boat and all that doesn’t immediately make it a bad game. Just because people don’t like the immersion doesn’t mean they have to blab their mouths about it. One common theme as well is complaints about pricing, and come on. It literally says in the description in all caps and bolded, “PAY BEFORE YOU PLAY” just under the in game purchases where the base game is clearly listed as the first purchase. I do agree that the price can be steep for some people, but I think it’s worth it for the amount of rich story there is to discover. Outstanding game, and I hope to play more of your guys’ work in the future!

The gameplay loop is simple, yet entrancing. You maneuver your tiny boat through a little alcove, reeling up any fish you see and strategically placing them in your ships cargo. You will return to port, sell your fish, and upgrade your boat. Then you take to the seas again! This time you have a stronger engine, brighter lights, more fishing nets, and bigger cargo hold. You discover more fish, and find intriguing new islands with mysteries to uncover. I played this game on the initial PC release and was immediately hooked by its charm! The art style lends itself perfectly to the themes of the story. The gameplay loop is repetitive, but somehow strikes a perfect balance of being engaging and refreshing enough to not get stale through the many zones of the game. There are so many hidden secrets to discover, that there is never a dull moment! When I saw that Dredge was coming to mobile, I immediately preordered the game and have been eagerly waiting since it was announced! Initially I was hesitant on how the controls would port to mobile since I initially played with a controller. I was so pleasantly relieved and surprised just how natural it feels to play this game on a touch screen! Albeit, the controls are fairly simple for this game, it just works so seamlessly on mobile. Overall, this is a top-tier game with one of the best stories in entertainment/media. The gameplay is easy to pick up, and extremely engaging; all the way up to the last moments of the game. I couldn't recommend this game more!