I'm hooked (no pun) on Dredge, a new game for PC, XB, PS and Switch. It's a casual RPG-like fishing game with New England and Lovecraftian atmosphere. You start off with a very basic ship and must go out and fish at scattered spots. Fishing involves quick and easy minigames, followed by a little inventory tetris (which is its own little puzzle minigame). You then take the fish to town and sell them to get money to upgrade your ship and fishing equipment in order to sail faster, fish faster, carry more and fish different and deeper types of water for more exotic and valuable species. At the same time, you explore the archipelago, discovering things (like wrecks and ruins) and meeting NPCs that give you quests (like bringing in certain fish or retrieving valuables from wrecks). As you progress, a sinister local mystery starts to unfold. There's a day/night cycle that goes by quickly (in only 5-10 minutes) and the challenge is to get as much fishing or other stuff accomplished while it's light and get back to port before it gets too dark. Staying out too late is dangerous and scary because it increases your panic meter and you start to see things and get attacked. There are occasional monsters that you need to avoid during the day, too, and you can die, but it autosaves every time that you're in port (i.e. every 5-10 minutes), so you never lose much progress. For the most part, it's not a very stressful game, so long as you're careful and don't get caught out at night too often. It's addictive, though, because I find myself wanting to play for "one more day" in order to complete a quest or get the money to buy an upgrade. The game reminds me a little of Outer Wilds with its small, open world, short time cycle, mystery to unravel and relatively casual gameplay. If that combined with some RPG gameplay and a nautical theme sounds up your alley, I recommend it.
