Benthic Grab

Benthic Grab is a physics-based salvage game by carryfachero1, made in Godot 4 for a game jam with the theme "salvage". Your rocket is broken on an ocean planet, and the only tool you have is a rusty crane. Lower the hook into the dark water, grab wreckage and haul it up while managing swing, cable tension, motor heat and energy. Your mission: recover the Ignition Battery, the Propulsion Reactor and the Navigation Core so you can rebuild the rocket and leave.

A / D move the crane trolley left and right. S or mouse wheel down lowers the cable (Shift + S drops fast, but only with an empty hook); W or mouse wheel up reels in (Shift + W reels fast but builds more heat and tension). Click or E grabs and releases. Q pings the sonar, F toggles the floodlight, and Space fires an emergency tug once you've bought that upgrade. Hold R for a paid rescue if you're stuck, Esc pauses and F11 goes fullscreen.

There are 30 items to recover across deepening water, and the deeper you go the more you rely on sonar and the light to find anything. Each day you have limited energy, with maintenance at night, and you can take side jobs. Money goes into 17 upgrades for the cable, motor, claw and sensors. Mistakes have consequences, but a failure doesn't end the whole run.

Let the hook stop swinging before you try to grab – a moving claw misses. Fast reeling is tempting, but heat and tension build up quickly, so save it for short pulls. Use sonar before diving deep instead of searching blind, and plan each day's energy so you aren't stranded mid-lift. Spend early money on cable and motor upgrades so heavier rocket parts become liftable.