DREADMOOR Demo Walkthrough – Every Quest from the Abandoned House to The Throat

This walkthrough covers every main quest in the October 2026 demo, in order, with the exact materials each step consumes. Read the chapter notes before assuming a quest is bugged — most detours are a missing material, not a missing key.

Before You Sail

• Start a fresh save if you played an earlier playtest; old saves misbehave in the October build.
• Budget one to two hours for the main route.
• Adopt the habit that prevents most soft-locks: read the journal objective before leaving the dock.
• Keep the five Snappers, three Softgrazers and three Harpooners whole until each hand-in.

Chapter 1: The Abandoned House

Search the house for Metal Plates and Rope, pick up the Axe, then tune the radio until the caller's conversation starts. Board the motorboat and follow the directions west to the Trading Post. You do not need every floating barrel on this first trip — fuel and hull damage matter more.

Chapter 2: Betsy and Sons

Speak to Gill and Bozur. They explain the Sea Blight and offer an Essence treatment, recorded as a debt. Accept it — refusal is a dead end. Take the Bunkhouse key, collect your chest from the pier, and carry it inside the Bunkhouse.

Chapter 3: The Bunkhouse

Place the chest in its marked position, patch the hole in the wall, then sleep until morning. Gill and Bozur contact you with the first fishing assignment. Collect the Simple Rod before leaving, then meet the traders at the fishing platform behind the Dry Dock.

Chapter 4: The Five-Snapper Contract

Equip the Simple Rod and Earthworm. Cast into the active water, keep the rod still until a Snapper bites, then pull opposite its movement to drain Stamina. Reel when it tires and stop reeling before Line Tension fills. Catch five and deliver them whole. If fish keep escaping, switch the rod control scheme in the settings — a stronger rod is not the fix here.

Chapter 5: John the Fifth and the Moonshine Still

Find John the Fifth and ask about the Dry Dock. His Moonshine Still is broken:

1. Remove the prosthetic leg lodged inside the still — the repair prompt will not progress until it is out.
2. Gather Coral Fibers on Angler's Island with the Axe.
3. Gather Bug Slime from the small blue creatures on the water with the Hook Gun.
4. Gather Metal Plates from floating barrels and wreck salvage.
5. Repair the still and speak to John to receive the Dry Dock Key.

Keep spare Bug Slime — the Dry Dock hull repair uses it too.

Chapter 6: Fuel, Power and the First Dry Dock Repairs

Process fish at the Grinder into Fish Meat and feed the Fuel Larva, then use the Fuel Gun to fill the boat — feeding the larva does not fill the tank by itself. Inside the Dry Dock:

1. Repair the Fuse Box with 1 Cable (one is nearby).
2. Flip the separate Power Switch.
3. Raise the boat on the Boat Lift.
4. Run the Pressure Pump, then blast the Polyps off the hull with the Water Cannon.
5. Load Bug Slime into the Repair Gun and repair every damaged hull section individually.
6. Report to John.

Chapter 7: Chromatic Scales and Hull Protection

Ask Gill and Bozur for the next job to receive the Wind-Up Tin blueprint. Craft Wind-Up Tin (1× Metal Plate + 1× Fish Meat), sail to the marked peaceful fishing spot and catch three Softgrazers. Process them at the Thresher for Chromatic Scales and bring the scales to John. Research Weak Hull Protection and the Upgraded Engine in the Mastery tree — do not spend Torn Pages on optional branches first. Craft Hull Protection at John's Lathe (3× Coral Fibers, 2× Bug Slime, 2× Rope, 2× Rubber) and install it in the side-front slot. If the module seems missing, check the Dry Dock storage locker.

Chapter 8: The Carburetor and the Upgraded Engine

Craft Rainbow Fin (1× Fish Meat, 1× Metal Plate, 1× Chromatic Scales). At the marked predator area, cast into a splash zone and retrieve steadily — too fast and the fish loses the lure, too slow and it loses interest. Catch three Harpooners and deliver them, then buy the Carburetor from the shop for 50. Back at the Dry Dock, raise the boat, remove and store the Standard Engine, craft the Upgraded Engine (10× Metal Plate, 4× Gear, 2× Machine Oil, 1× Carburetor) and install it. Boat speed rises from 2 kn to 4 kn.

Chapter 9: The Throat

Check fuel and hull before the run. At The Throat:

1. Start the Generator — a Fuel Can is in the nearby working area.
2. Try the Gate Control; the gate fails and the objective shifts to machinery.
3. Install the Thermal Coil, a replacement Gear, both Buckets on the water wheels, and repair the Water Pump in place (do not craft a replacement).
4. Use the water-flow controls and the glowing blue pivots to route water to both wheels.
5. When both wheels turn, open the gate and sail through to the end of the demo.

The full puzzle logic is in our Throat guide.

Chapter 10: After the Demo

The Thank You for Playing screen ends the route. Optional targets remain: fill the fish ledger, hunt class 3 specimens, finish boat modules and test the afterburner. DREADMOOR enters Steam Early Access on 9 November 2026 — no demo progress carry-over has been announced.