Fairly short, 4-7 hours for the average player. Fits into the theme of the game really well. A new boat tier with added cargo space, some modular equipment parts with buffs, and a tier of upgraded of rods. Lots of new fish to catch.

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The Iron Rig is a great addition to the world of Dredge. Unlike the first DLC (The Pale Reach) this isn't a whole area, but a central hub and added content in the other main areas of the game. It adds a bunch of new equipment (5 upgraded rods, 2 trawl nets, 1 crab pot, 3 consumables, 3 baits, 3 ability upgrades, and 6 modular boat improvements). There's 56 new types of fish and crabs including aberrations, and 12 new achievements.

Playtime: 4-7 hours for the DLC content. A little bit more than what they say on the store page. Naturally your mileage may vary.

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Integration - The DLC itself is a great addition to the game. Unlike the Pale Reach which was a standalone area, this one adds new content in the five base areas of the game. You make your way between those sites and the Rig itself gathering materials and advancing the storyline. It fits the world very well.

New Ship Tier - Three-quarters through the DLC you get access to a new tier of ship upgrade. It adds 11 cargo slots. Sadly no new equipment slots, but it's still very nice.

Factory (Tier 2, Material Gathering) - There's a new trawling net added here called The Material Harvester and it's fantastic. It's a great way to get some materials to make the Ironhaven Crates for the upgrades and equipment in the DLC.

Tech Lab (Tier 2, Hull & Stat Improvements) - There's six upgrades, and half of them are wonderful. You get the ability to tune how your boat feels and controls. My personal favorites are upgrades to Turning Speed, Reversing Speed, and Heat Absorption which lets you use Haste much longer before needing to cool down. These buffs are stackable, so you have to balance cargo space which is pretty neat. All of these are 1x1 items and they don't need to be fitted to your ship. You can place them freely in any square and move them around as necessary.

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Story - The new side-story follows a classic tale of corporate greed. Executives digging too deep and biting off more than they could chew at the expense of their workers. It's pretty straight-forward, and brings you from point-to-point. There's a really interesting bit of lore that I hope gets expanded upon, but I have a feeling that most people will miss it unless they're extremely thorough. The story ends really abruptly and didn't have a ton of closure until I found that lore bit. Not to mention that no one on the Rig seems to react when the scientist jumps through a window and into the ocean.

Factory (Tier 1, Equipment Infusion) - This part of the Rig adds some new tiers of rods. I'm kind of sad that there isn't an upgraded version of the Versatile Rod. The Hoist, Coiling, and Fireproof rods are required for the main questline, the Winch and the Basic Rod are easily ignored. The standard Winch might be helpful in catching Fish #230, since it lowers the possible types of fish.

Factory (Tier 2, Material Gathering) - Like The Material Harvester trawling net, there's also a "crab pot" that does the same thing to gather salvage. However, the Flotsam Trap is pretty mediocre due to the extremely tiny storage (4x4). I feel like if it was the same size as the Reinforced Crab Pot (6x5) it would be much more worth it.

Factory (Tier 3, Repair Tech) - I think the winner here is the Soothing Tea since you can get rid of all your Panic without sleeping and losing time. The Hull Repair Kit repairs 2 damaged areas on your boat and is nice in a pinch. The Harvester's Repair Kit repairs broken crab pots and trawling nets is a lot more niche.

Tech Lab (Tier 1, Ability Enhancements) - Three different upgrades to your abilities can be found on this part of the Rig. The main draw here is the Enhanced Spyglass which adds an option to mark fishing spots on your map for you when you look at them through your spyglass. The Enhanced Foghorn is interesting, but I didn't get much use out of it. When used it sends a ping out from interactibles in a small area around you. Lastly, The Enhanced Lights... I couldn't even tell that the light radius changed. It's supposed to lessen the effects of Panic, but I similiarly didn't find much of a difference.

Tech Lab (Tier 2, Hull & Stat Improvements) - Another upgrade found here is for Dredging Speed. I'm not sure it's worth a cargo slot or more, but it is the only way to increase this stat in the game so that's kind of neat. It adds 25% and is stackable.

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Playtime - It's very short. It's took me about 5 hours to 100% the DLC. So to catch all the new fish and aberrations, as well as finish the area quest and sidequests. This is from an endgame save with a fully kitted-out ship. It might take you longer if you go here before your ship is upgraded, or if you haven't finished most of the main game already.

Factory (Tier 4, Bait Refinement) - It's too bad that you can't buy them from the Undermarket after finishing the questline. You need to craft them, and for a lot of people that probably means you won't use them. The Aberrant Bait attracts aberrated fish from the whole zone to it. The Exotic Bait allows you to catch more of the previously unique fish found in each zone. This now includes Aberrated versions of them.. I didn't really try the Insta-Crab Bait, since you rarely need crabs urgently.

Tech Lab (Tier 2, Hull & Stat Improvements) - The last two upgrades really don't seem worth it at their current buff values. These are Trawl Catch Rate and Fishing Speed. Trawl Catch Rate sounds good on paper, but it's only 10%. Fishing Speed adds 20%. It's a little hard to justify when the Encrusted Talisman (+375% Fishing Speed) exists. These buffs are stackable too.

Area Completion Reward - There isn't anything specific here and like I mentioned earlier, the storyline ends very abruptly. I suppose your reward is basically all of the upgrades and consumables you get from the facilities on the Rig.

Cosmetics - No new paint colors or flags. Expected since there weren't any in the Pale Reach either. Not a big deal, but I figured I'd mention it.

Fairly short, 2-4 hours for the average player, but it fits seamlessly into the main game.
A little disappointed by no new research or ship upgrades. All equipment is purchasable or from quests. At the end of the day, it's more Dredge, and every little bit they add just makes the game better.

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The Pale Reach is an interesting area. Frigid snow, floating chunks of ice, and a mutated Narwhal to keep you on your toes as the area hazard. The DLC adds: a new side-story about the area, a new side-quest from a robed cultist, 5 new pieces of equipment (2 fishing rods, 2 trawl nets, and the reward for completing the area), an icebreaker attachment for the prow of your ship, ice blocks to preserve fish in your cargo hold, 23 new types of fish and crab including aberrations, and 8 new achievements.

Playtime: 2-4 hours for the DLC content. About in line with what they say on the store page.

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Area Completion Reward - The Aurous Anchor adds a new utility for the player, and I can see it being very useful for someone on a fresh playthrough. It lets you make a two-way portal between where you drop it and Blackstone Isle. It's basically a better version of Manifest and provides a nice QoL.

Integration - The DLC itself fits seamlessly into the game, and you can go there anytime you'd like. It's recommended to not go there until Chapter 2 or later however, so you'll have more of a properly equipped boat. There's no pre-requisites to the area other than being able to dredge up salvage, and having space on your ship for the rods that you can buy.

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Story - The new side-story is pretty nice. It adds lore about a captain and his crew finding a monster frozen in the ice. There's also two basalt formations with some lore about the beast itself that you can read while at high Panic. It doesn't add a ton to the main story, which is fine in my opinion. Standalone and contained.

Ice Blocks - These are... okay. It's a nice QoL for players who do multiple tasks at once, but they're hard to justify for me personally. You essentially trade space (1x2 or 2x4) for a day or two reprieve of fish going bad. They're the sort of thing that are nice if you use them, but I don't know if it'll actually save you that much money in the long run compared to just doing efficient fishing routes.

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Playtime - It's very short. It's took me about 2 hours to 100% the DLC. So to catch all the new fish and aberrations, as well as finish the area quest and sidequests. Keep in mind, this is from an endgame save with a fully kitted-out ship and over 20K in the bank. It might take you longer if you go here early in the game, or don't have a ton of ship upgrades yet.

Research - The new rods and nets are obtained straight from the travelling merchant, or from quests. There's no upgrades to make your ship bigger, no new engines, and no new lights. Fairly bare bones, and after finishing the zone I went straight back to my old setup that can still hit every climate except the new one.

Cosmetics - No new paint colors or flags in the DLC. Not a big deal, but I figured I'd mention it.