Dredge game length and how long to beat explained

(Image credit: Black Salt Games)

The average Dredge game length will vary depending on how much of the game you want to do. The question of how long to beat Dredge will depend on your approach towards completion, as well as how well you adjust to the difficulty - there's a lot of threats in Dredge that can suddenly strike, and progress is rarely a straight line. There's also options to just fish and make money, which will extend it further - but we'll cover all those below. If you want to know how long is Dredge, and how the game's length will change depending on what you do, we'll cover all the answers below.

How long is Dredge? Game Length and how long to beat explained

Dredge how to dredge — (Image credit: Team17)

Dredge's length will vary depending on your approach, as mentioned, so having played it ourselves, we've broken it down accordingly:

Critical Path/Just Story: 10-12 Hours
Standard playthrough (story plus some sidequests): 13-16 hours
100% Completionist playthrough: 17-22 hours

Dredge game guides

Dredge Refined Metal
Dredge explosives
Dredge Abyssal and Hadal fishing
How to dredge in Dredge

Part of what makes evaluating Dredge's length difficult is that some elements of it are a little luck-based - whether monsters attack, or if you run into a useful item by accident, etc - while others are about how you approach its difficulty, how much you get set back, and how much you feel you need to prepare before venturing out into the more dangerous waters. Some players will feel the need to fish and dredge materials for the maximum amount of upgrades before committing to any challenge, while others will try to survive without them - and may even be successful!

Not only that, but Dredge has a lot of sidequests, also known as Pursuits, and some other jobs you can do while you're out on the water. Some pursuits are mandatory to continue, but others are totally optional, with money and upgrades as rewards. These will take you all over the map and will add a lot to your playtime. Most players will do at least a few optional pursuits in their own playthroughs, as the rewards will help provide safety for the core path.

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.