Dredge review: Fishing the deep, dark depths

I usually find that when I think about a game at lot when I’m not playing it.

Trying to find solutions to mysteries, mulling over exactly what did that cryptic conversation with a character mean, then I’m usually smitten with that game.

For me at the moment, that game is Dredge, a “fishing” game from a game development studio in my home town in New Zealand, that has buried itself into my mind and I can’t stop thinking about it, I can’t stop playing it.

I’m smitten with this indie gem.

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Dredge developer interview: A fishing RPG with a sinister undercurrent

Gerard Campbell caught up with the team behind Black Salt Games.

A young development studio based in Christchurch, New Zealand, making waves with its debut game, Dredge.

Two years in the making, and coming from fledgling game development studio Black Salt Games, comprising the talents of Joel, Nadia, Mikey and Alex.

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Somerville Byte Size Review (XSX)

Somerville, the debut release from Jumpship. A new independent studio out of Surrey in the UK co-founded by Dino Patti of Playdead (Limbo and Inside) fame.

And this history is very evident within Somerville. Is it to the same calibre of Inside and Limbo? Not quite, but there is still enjoyment to be had here.

Although I have already mentioned Limbo and Inside as comparisons for Somerville, I think the best way to describe it is Cloverfield meets Another World.

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Destiny’s Sword (PC)

Destiny’s Sword describes itself as a “living graphic novel”

To me it’s more akin to the Choose Your Own adventure books that were common place when I was growing up – and that’s not a bad thing, believe me.

Told through comic book-style panels, Destiny’s Sword has you commanding a planetary defense force as it works to keep the peace on the planet Cyris.

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Skábma – Snowfall (Byte sized review)

Skábma – Snowfall is the first video game to focus on the Sámi people of Northern Europe.

The Sámi are the indigenous people of Northernmost Europe. Their homeland is called Sámiland (Sápmi in Northern Sámi language). Sámiland extends through four countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia.

Based on Sámi culture and steeped in both historical and mythological stories. Skábma – Snowfall sees you control Áilu, a young Sámi boy put in charge of the village reindeer.

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Gearshifters, PS5 Review

Gearshifters is a game that fits right into a classic arcade niche. Up until recently it was completely off my radar, but for catching a Tweet and having my fancy tickled. It turns out this indie game is right on the money.

Red Phantom Games have pulled out a fun, playable homage to cult car games and arcade shooters. Now, I’m off for one more go before bed.

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Super Arcade Football, Switch Byte Size review

Super Arcade Football, is absolutely a spiritual successor to any misty eyed memories of Sensible Soccer.

What more can I say, I’ve lived and loved Sensible over the years, my Amiga was never far away from the 5 1/4 floppy. When SWOS arrived I changed holiday plans around the release date, which didn’t go down too well. Yes there have been newer versions, but we needed something fresh and Super Arcade Football is the new challenger for that void.

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Hell Architect, Byte Size review (PC)

The management sim genre is one that has been around for as long as I can remember but I can’t say I’ve ever played one set in the realms of Hell that tasks you with making hell a better version of itself (is that even possible?)

That’s the idea behind Hell Architect, a management sim from Polish developer Woodland Games where you’re tasked as Hell Manager who is in charge of, well, developing the nine rings of Hell and making it a place Lucifer himself would be proud of.

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Death’s Door – the review

Death’s Door has certainly piqued some interest in a relatively short space of time. Fortunately Gerard and Dylan were keen enough to follow up our preview with a deft 2-winger Death’s Door Review.

Site regulars, the boys share some interesting insight into the game.

It’s great to see how Death’s Door has bucked the norm in its genre and made its challenges enjoyable in a very nuanced way.

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Loop Hero Review (PC)

Sitting down to write this I thought I’d just have another quick run to get me ready. That was almost three hours ago.

Loop Hero, from small Indie developer Four Quarters, is one of those games. One quick run and next minute you have missed that meeting, forgotten to pick up the kids, or been unable to start writing that review. And at first glance Loop Hero doesn’t look like much. Definitely not something that will grab huge chunks of your precious gaming time.

Thankfully Devolver Digital saw differently and got this gem of a game out to the masses.

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