Editorial basis

Our curator Conrado Lusa played the DREADMOOR demo on our Oct 22, 2026 Steam Next Fest stream. Quotes are translated from Portuguese.

What the game is

DREADMOOR, developed by Dream Dock and published by Digital Vortex Entertainment, is a first-person fishing adventure set in a flooded world. Per its Steam page, coastal regions have sunk beneath the water after a catastrophic human mistake, and you take the helm of a fishing trawler to travel between scattered settlements, catch fish to trade, upgrade your vessel and craft equipment. Skill-based fishing, survival crafting, real-time combat and exploration make up the loop. The page promises dozens of dangerous and rare species, different baits, and mutated creatures on the sea and on land. The game's X account is @DreadmoorGame.

What Conrado did

Two clips stand out. In the first he was fishing, and a tutorial popup explained line tension (the on-screen gauges show a good and a bad range). He talked through the tension rising and falling. Then: "Man, very good, excellent fishing mechanics." He had briefly forgotten the game's name and checked himself: "Dreadmoor, right?"

In the second clip he was on the boat itself. He noticed a durability system for the boat shown part by part in a corner of the screen, and toward the end he docked in a dry dock where the hull appeared as a green repair outline. "Dry dock. Let's dock. Nice." He was delighted: "Man, how cool, incredible." Then his summary: "We've already seen a lot of what the game has to offer, man. I liked it, huh?"

In an earlier clip he said he had expected "just fishing," but found "lots of little things for you to work out." In another he joked about the boat being "just a little boat" rather than a shark.

What we saw on screen

  • A first-person fishing rod on a calm lake with a tension-meter tutorial popup (a green "good" and red "bad" gauge) and a hut-on-stilts landscape.
  • A dark flooded harbour at dusk.
  • The boat's interior with lamps, crates and the helm, plus a green hull hologram in the dry dock.

Release status

Per Steam, a free demo has been available since Oct 6, 2026, and DREADMOOR launches in Early Access on Nov 9, 2026.

Why it matters

Per Steam, DREADMOOR mixes fishing with boat upgrades, crafting and combat; Conrado's clips covered the fishing and the boat upkeep side. We did not see the combat in the clips we cut.

Sources and quote references

  • Steam page.
  • Free demo.
  • Conrado x Venn stream, October 22, 2026. Quotes translated from Portuguese.

Where to find more

More indie picks from the Venn team are on our Steam curator page.