DaRmaZat Publisher and developer Dreadmoor Studios has announced that an early pre-alpha playtest for its upcoming dark first-person horror fishing adventure DREADMOOR will run from January 12 through January 18, offering a limited group of participants an initial hands-on look at the game’s core systems on PC via Steam.
The upcoming pre-alpha playtest is positioned as a tightly scoped technical and gameplay evaluation rather than a content-complete preview. Participants will explore a single swamp-lake region, experience one contained storyline, and interact with the foundational mechanics that define DREADMOOR. As an early development build, the playtest will feature unfinished content, limited optimization, and the potential for bugs or crashes, with performance demands expected to be higher than those of the final release.
During the test, players will navigate a flooded wasteland using a fuel-powered vessel that emphasizes weight, inertia, and shoreline interaction. Core activities include fishing for a small selection of aquatic creatures, retrieving objects from the water, encountering early enemy behaviors, and engaging with initial trading, crafting, and looting systems. The playtest also introduces a short questline supported by notes, recordings, light puzzles, and early cinematic elements, alongside a preliminary HUD, interface windows, visual effects, and ambient audio design.
An NDA will be required for all participants, with restrictions on sharing or distributing playtest content. Progress made during the test will not carry over to future builds, as the game is expected to undergo significant changes following player feedback. The playtest will be available in English only and exclusively on PC, with system requirements reflecting the unoptimized state of the build.
DREADMOOR is a first-person horror adventure that blends exploration, fishing, and survival in a drowned, hostile world shaped by mystery and unseen threats. Players scour both land and water in search of resources and answers, balancing methodical angling with tense encounters as they push deeper into a submerged landscape where danger lurks beneath the surface. A full release date has not yet been announced.
Simone 
