Dredge was developed by the New Zealand-based
independent studio Black Salt Games and published by
Team17. The team announced the game in August 2022 with a trailer, and showcased it at
Gamescom later in the month. It was created using the
Unity game engine. The studio initially experimented with three prototypes: a
real-time strategy game, a
stealth game, and
Dredge. After playtesting them with friends and colleagues,
Dredge was considered the most enjoyable and selected for further development. Michael Bastianes, the studio's 3D art director, said the team deliberately designed
Dredge to feel unsettling without depending on
jump scares. Rather than making a conventional horror game, Black Salt Games aimed for a "spooky" atmosphere rooted in psychological tension and
Lovecraftian horror. Bastianes explained that the studio wanted to leave much to the player's imagination. To support this, the team intentionally made daytime feel calm and inviting so that players would develop a false sense of security before being pressured into dangerous nighttime voyages. The daytime soundtrack reinforces this tranquil mood, helping establish the contrast that makes the game's horror elements more effective. At night, however, the music gives way to static-like noise. For these nighttime sections, the team also created a fog shader centered on the player rather than the camera. The developers designed sea monsters both for specific archipelagos and for the open ocean between them, gradually introducing these threats as players progressed.
Art style Dredge uses a
low-poly (a
polygon mesh that has a low number of polygons) art style that has been part of the project since its earliest prototype. Art director Alex Ritchie chose subdued colors and simple shapes to create a stylized, cartoon-like world with minimal gradients. In shaping the game's visual identity, Ritchie drew particular inspiration from
Disco Elysium (2019), especially its abstract, painterly approach to atmosphere. That influence helped inform
Dredge muted palette and subtly unsettling visual tone. The team also iterated on the game's water shaders throughout development to ensure that each archipelago felt visually distinct. This work included adjusting water hues and transparency depending on the region. Transparency was not present in the game's early stages, but was later added so players could see fish swimming beneath the surface.
Gameplay Players improve their boat and equipment through a material-based upgrade system that ties progression to exploration and resource gathering. In early versions of the game, upgrades were handled through a simple menu that displayed a list of purchasable improvements. The developers ultimately found this approach unengaging and evolved the game into its final version. While building the inventory system, the team also considered tying upgrades more directly to the player's loadout, for example letting players choose between faster or slower boats depending on which engines they carried. The material-based system was introduced later and became a key part of the game's progression loop. Joel Mason played a central role in shaping
Dredge fishing systems, drawing both on his own knowledge of fish and on research from sources like Wikipedia to decide which species to include. Ritchie then designed the fish visually, including the human-like features seen in many aberrations. Early in development, the game featured only one fishing mini-game, but playtesters found it repetitive. In response, the developers introduced several different mini-game variations. Mason said the team wanted these mechanics to feel simple and accessible, unlike the fishing systems like the one featured in
Stardew Valley (2016). He also noted that the mini-games are optional, meaning fish can still be caught even if players choose not to actively engage with them. == Release ==