Short Thought: How Dredge in Dead by Daylight Causes Anxiety Issues

Since starting to play Dead by Daylight (DbD) I have a slight love/hate relationship with it. Sometimes I enjoy the game and other times it can get so annoying that I don’t open the game up for days, even when there is a 2x bloodhunt going on.

Events, on the other hand, I will join in on, it just depends on the mood I am in, and well, I own it on Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch Lite, Steam, Epic Games Store, and on my mobile so I have a lot of options. Although I’ve rarely touched the Switch Lite version since it came out, and not really on mobile since I reviewed it…

Dredge is the new killer in DbD… well, he is scary as hell and when he does his power he sets my anxiety off a lot. It’s called Nightfall and it sends the whole area into darkness and these scary voices start screaming around.

The first time I came across him when they introduced him to the game I thought, okay, I would find it easier to be in a match with him in time, I might get used to it. I was wrong. I think I have come across him almost 10 times now and it feels like the more I have a match with him (even though it is rare) it makes my anxiety get worse. Now don't get me wrong, I do still enjoy the game but after a match against him, I am done for that day/night as it makes me close the game completely.

I wonder if it might help if the game had a function where you can choose to not go into a match with one of the killers. I panic enough when it comes to playing it with sneaky killers which most the time makes it funny, but if you have
Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns) and Nyctophobia (Fear of Darkness) like myself it doesn't help when you match up against your phobias.

As long as they don't add any spiders in it, the game will always have me playing it at least.