Trawl is now on Green Light! Go give it a vote!
On a small boat out in a storm trawling the ocean for treasures. That is Trawl. An odd, atmospheric game.

Trawl is a game by Nate Gallardo and Danny Gallagher of House of Wire.
In Trawl you play as a fisherman on a boat out at sea. You are to trawl the ocean for objects and record your findings.

What I love so much about Trawl is it’s wonderful atmosphere. It feels almost conflicting with itself at times. The tedium of trawling the ocean and the rain is calming but the radio and the objects you find make the game feel mysterious and often a bit creepy. Your small boat feels cozy but slightly claustrophobic. This odd atmosphere makes the game feel so unique and draws you into this world.

The gameplay of Trawl is mostly pulling and pushing levers and steering the boat with a bit of writing on your typewriter. Put down the net, accelerate, steer the ship, stop, pull up the net, collect your spoils, record your findings, rinse, and repeat. This process is all very intuitive and feels nice. My favorite part is waiting for the bell to ring and signal that I’ve caught something. I wander around the small ship or maybe just sit at the wheel listening to the haunting sounds of the radio while I wait.

I went in to trawl expecting a story told through the objects I found. Over 10 expeditions out in the dark sea and I still don’t know for sure if there is some connection.

Trawl wants you to tell the story, to connect the dots between the objects you find. Which is where the typewriter down in the cabin of your boat comes in. After trawling up some objects you can write about them. Simply list what you find, write about what you think connects them or anything else in between.

Where I found my thoughts wandering aboard the boat was this fisherman. Myself. The player and the atmosphere of the game. A story about the loneliness of this boat out in the vast ocean pulling up junk from the depths. Looking for something.

After you finish writing about your treasures you roll up your recordings and stick them into a bottle. Tossing it out into the dark waters ends your expedition and saves your recordings to a text file on your computer.

I wish there was more to Trawl, but I love what is there. It is not an experience I will forget and it is one I will definitely recommend. A game with wonderful atmosphere and a very interesting concept.
Go play Trawl. It’s on Itch.io for $5. I don’t think you will regret it.