Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine

A free digital fanzine centered around Dredge,
the horror fishing game by Black Salt GamesCURRENTLY IN CREATION PHASE
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DREDGING UP THE ZINE ON OCTOBER 31, 2025

    About

    Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine is a collaborative fanzine that will focus on events that take place before the main story in Dredge. The fanzine will be SFW, digital, and free.Artwork, fanfiction, and other media will explore events leading up to the game's main storyline––the 20-year period before the Fisherman and the Collector jumpstart the story. Contributors will use lore from the game and their creativity to fill in the blanks of that 20-year period.

    Schedule
    Interest CheckFeb 7 - Mar 7
    Mod applicationsFeb 21 - Mar 21
    Mod application resultsby Apr 4
    Contributor applicationsApr 4 - May 12
    Contributor invites sentby May 26
    Concept checkJune 7
    Check-in 1Jun 17
    Check-in 2Jul 29
    Check-in 3Sep 12
    Final deadlineSep 19
    Formatting periodSep - Oct
    Zine releaseOct 31
    Mods
    Profile icon featuring Ashe from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

    CHOCO
    Head & Social Media    Waves lap against the basalt shores of Blackstone Isle as Choco releases another bottle into the sea. The vessel of dark glass drifts away, carrying a message that echoes with whispers from the Deep.

    Profile icon featuring Felix from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

    PEACHES
    Organization    Your boat docks and you find Peaches huddled next to a campfire, muttering about video games and zines, determined to bring this zine to life under the watchful eye of the All-Seeing Cod.

    Profile icon featuring a branch of a green ash tree

    OCEAN
    Writing    The Ocean’s wild and wrack-filled eyes stare into you. She babbles labyrinthine directives, suggesting corrections to your path, guiding you toward your goal. The Spine’s broken ruins await.
    Under her waves, the watch ticks backwards.

    Profile icon featuring a bird, a mouse, and a fox all snuggled up together

    RIC
    Art    Something slithers into your cargo hold, a twisted thing that can scratch artwork into rusty steel and rotting wood. Ric is providing scribbled shapes and images as a form of communication with you.

    Profile icon featuring the object head Ashley, a humanoid character with a megaphone for a head

    IZU/POTENTIALFORART
    Formatting    Under brackish water, something stirs. Mud clouds the depths but as debris bobs and falls beneath the surface, amalgamations arise. Their composition seemingly more than the sum of its parts, it'll do for company.

    Profile icon featuring a smiling black crow

    EPILOGUE
    Graphics    Graphic designer & illustrator
    who loves fish and scary bodies of water!

    FAQ

    What is a fanzine?
    A fanzine, or simply "zine," is an unofficial publication created by fans, for fans. Fanzines may include fanworks such as art, writing, music, cosplay, and photography.    What will the Dredge fanzine include?
    The Dredge fanzine will explore the 20-year period leading up to the main events of the game. It will be organized around areas from the base game (Stellar Basin, the Marrows, etc) with a balanced number of fanworks per area. Originally, a separate mini-zine was planned for the DLC areas (Pale Reach and Iron Rig), but we will now include ALL areas from the game (including DLC areas) in one (1) single zine.    Is this a horror zine?
    Since Dredge is a horror game, the main focus of this fanzine will be horror, with genres such as cosmic horror, body horror, psychological horror, etc. Mature and sensitive topics are allowed and may explore themes of violence, abuse, psychological trauma, and more. Works may also depict gore or blood, but not to an excessive degree. Please note that this fanzine is SFW, which means that it will NOT contain sexual content of any kind.    What types of relationships are allowed?
    General/platonic relationships and romantic relationships ("ships"). Romantic ships will be SFW.    Will this fanzine be for charity or for profit?
    The Dredge fanzine will always be available to download for free. Please consider supporting the hard work of the writers and artists by donating an amount of your choice to the NZ Whale & Dolphin Trust! This charity is dedicated to the conservation of New Zealand's whales and dolphins and has been supported by Black Salt Games and Team17 in the past.    Will you offer an option to purchase a physical zine?
    We will provide the zine as a PDF file only. However, we will also provide a PDF that is formatted for printing if you wish to print a physical copy of the zine on your own and at your own expense.    Can I apply to be a moderator?
    Our mod team is currently full! Thank you to everyone who applied!    Can I apply to be a contributor?
    Contributor applications are closed, and creation phase has begun! Thank you to everyone who applied!    What if I have a question that isn't answered here?
    We've got you covered! Send us an ask on tumblr, or comment on one of our posts on Bluesky.