The upcoming Ocean Fest, running from May 18 to May 25, is a great opportunity to celebrate and discover all kinds of ocean themed games. We’ll of course be joining the event, where you’ll be able to play the demo for The Wake: A Lovecraftian Fishing Tale.

In The Wake, fishing is the heart of the experience🎣

You’ll explore dark oceans and mysterious islands in search of strange Lovecraftian fish, with every catch designed to feel like an intense boss fight. Choosing the right equipment for each fish is key if you want to survive the horrors lurking beneath the waves.

Along the way, you’ll also encounter dangerous monster fish that may require more than just a fishing rod to take down🦈

We can’t wait for you to try the demo during Ocean Fest.

Are you hooked yet? 🪝

We want to give you a better idea of what you can expect to see in the full version of The Wake in comparison to the demo. There are a lot of features, of course, that are not included in the current demo build.

Let us start with a TLDR of the most important features you can expect to see in the full version. We provide an in-depth look further down this log.

• 3 unique biomes each with many hand crafted island to explore

• 24 fish to catch and harvest parts from

• 3 different fishing rods that have their unique skillsets and playstyles

• 100+ fish parts to modify your fishing rods with

• 7 devastating weapons to unlock and upgrade

• 10+ types of sea monsters to fight

• 4 arcane spells to upgrade and master

• upgrade your boat for faster traversal and better survivability

• a fleshed out sanity system with dark twists and surprises

• treasure hunting on the islands for big and impactful rewards

• more NPCs to meet, trade and to receive quests from

• an immersive, lovecraftian story to unravel with tons of lore to find

The search for your father will take you across three unique biomes, each with their own flora & fauna. The scenery changes as you progress—the closer you get to your destination, the more outlandish your surroundings will become.
Each biome has new ingredients to collect, new fish and stronger enemies.

In every biome you can reel in 8 different types of fish, each with their own attacks, characteristics and parts you can enhance your fishing rod with. No fish fight feels the same and you have to learn their quirks, patterns, strengths and weaknesses. We took care that the look of our fish match the biome that they come from. For example, the second biome is lush and alien. The fish you find there have very imposing colorings and exaggerated features.

Right now, there are three different fishing rods planned for the full game. They have unique skill sets and mechanics that completely change the way you fight a fish. Picture them like different classes in an rpg: While a warrior faces en enemy head on with brutal, relentless attacks, a mage casts and strikes from the distance with channeled abilities. Our rods behave the same way. You can switch these at any point if you feel like trying out something new. Every rod gets its own slots for fish parts so you can customize them individually.

By exploring the world and completing quests, you will eventually unlock more weapons to fight your foes with. They all excell in a different niche—some are great for removing armor from monsters, others are made for crowd control. There will be a total of seven unique weapons and you can upgrade each one multiple times to make combat even more fun, chaotic and explosive!

The sea will throw its most gruesome creatures at you. Fight more than 10 different types of sea monsters and variants that will attack you with unique moves. Target priority is an important aspect of our fights and every new monster that will enter the battlefield will switch things up significantly. No matter if you are being chased by 10 fish—if a siren emerges you have to switch your focus immideately! Otherwise her song will strengthen other monsters and they will quickly overpower you.

We introduce our first arcane spell in the demo—elude, a quick teleport for traversal and evasion.
There are three more to uncover in the full game. With the essence of fallen sea monsters you are able to upgrade these spells further, making them more powerful and adding extra effects to them.

The waters of this world are treacherous and unforgiving. With the help of the shipwright Halli, you can upgrade your humble raft into two successive boat tiers, each enhancing your ability to navigate the open sea. Stronger hulls, improved handling, and better equipment allow you to venture farther, face greater dangers, and survive longer in the unknown.

In the eerie world of the Wake, terrifying monsters and mind-bending mysteries slowly chip away at your sanity. As your mind spirals, its effects shape your gameplay—blurred vision, unsettling noises, and even a distorted inventory. Dark phantoms hunt you across the ocean and can only be driven back by your ship’s lantern, so keep a close eye on your battery.

To stay grounded, you must craft and consume food. Without it, your grip on reality fades—making every encounter more dangerous and every decision more uncertain.

In the course of the story, the tinkerer Halli provides you not only with weapons, but also with a metal detector. Step into your father’s footsteps and feel like an archaeologist as you follow audio clues to uncover the correct digging spot. Once you find it, dig up the hidden chest and claim a sweet reward that makes it all worthwhile.

Along your journey, you’ll encounter familiar crew members, offering moments of connection in an otherwise hostile world. However they are far from the only ones inhabiting these islands. An odd merchant with unclear motives, along with other mysterious and unsettling creatures, lurk in the shadows of this harsh landscape.

As you dive deeper into this strange and mysterious world, you find yourself becoming increasingly entangled in a story that twists and turns around the mysterious disappearance of your father. What begins as a personal search soon unfolds into something far greater, drawing you into a web of secrets, hidden motives, and unsettling discoveries.

Packed with new quests, cinematic cutscenes, and unexpected twists, the journey constantly challenges your assumptions and makes you question everything you thought you knew. Along the way, you’ll encounter intriguing characters, each with their own stories and agendas, forcing you to decide who to trust.

Your choices matter and your decisions may carry consequences that ripple throughout the world and ultimately shape how the story ends.