Dave the Diver is a single-player adventure by MINTROCKET in which you dive for fish by day and serve them as sushi by night. It left Steam Early Access in June 2023, has since come to every major console and to mobile, holds Overwhelmingly Positive Steam reviews, and passed 10 million copies sold in September 2026. The question for most readers is not whether it is good, but whether its particular mix suits them. That is what this review answers first.
Buy, wait or skip
| Your situation | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You like games that mix light action, management and a funny story | Buy | The dive-to-dish loop and the writing carry a long, complete game |
| You enjoyed Stardew Valley or Moonlighter and want something more guided | Buy | Same 'work a day, spend the money' rhythm, with a story that pulls you forward |
| You want to play on a phone | Try first (mobile) | The opening is free to play on iOS and Android; one purchase unlocks the rest |
| You are curious but price-sensitive | Wait for a sale | Steam discounts on the base game are frequent and deep |
| You finished the story and want more | Add In the Jungle | A paid 10-plus-hour expansion that starts after the ending |
| You want a deep restaurant or business sim | Skip | The restaurant is a busy shift with light planning, not a spreadsheet |
| You want open-ended underwater survival | Skip | Diving is short, oxygen-limited runs between story beats, not Subnautica |
| You dislike being pulled into minigames | Skip or check first | New minigames and side systems keep arriving for most of the game |
Short version: if the idea of catching a fish in the morning and selling it as sushi the same night sounds fun, Dave the Diver is close to a safe purchase. The players who regret it are mostly those who wanted one of its systems to be deep, not those who found it too hard.
What kind of game it is
Each in-game day has a morning dive, an afternoon dive and an evening shift at Bancho Sushi. Diving is a 2D action-gathering run in the Blue Hole: harpoon or shoot fish, collect ingredients and materials, and get back before your oxygen runs out, because running dry means leaving the haul behind. The Blue Hole's layout is regenerated between dives, and deeper zones open as the story and your Diving Suit allow.
At night you pick the menu from what you caught and run service: carry dishes Bancho prepares, pour green tea, refill wasabi and clean tables. The money goes into the iDiver app (air, cargo, depth, harpoon) and Duff's Weapon Shop, which lets you dive deeper for better fish. Around that loop sit a story about the Sea People living under the Blue Hole, a cast of comic characters, and a long list of side activities: a farm, a Fish Farm, photo requests, VIP guests, seasonal parties and story minigames.
The Beginner Guide explains the day loop and what to buy first.
Current state: what you get today
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Release | Full release (not Early Access) since June 2023 on Steam |
| Platforms | Windows and macOS (Steam), Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X|S, iOS and Android |
| Story | Prologue, seven chapters and an epilogue; 14 bosses in 16 fights |
| Free updates | DREDGE pack, Dave & Friends collaborations (Balatro, mxmtoon, Potion Craft), GGST pack |
| Time-limited free DLC | Godzilla Content Pack, claimable until December 31, 2026; keeps working once claimed |
| Paid DLC | In the Jungle (story expansion), Ichiban's Holiday (time-limited until December 31, 2026), Digital Extra (cosmetic boat skin, art book, soundtrack) |
| Monetisation | One-time purchase, no microtransactions; mobile is free to try with a one-time unlock |
| Multiplayer | None; single-player only |
| Interface languages | 14 on Steam, including Japanese, Korean, both Chinese scripts, German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian and Russian; no voice acting in full |
The free packs are more than skins. The DREDGE pack adds foggy nights when you dive for aberrated fish and serve them to hooded guests. The Dave & Friends update added a Balatro-based card minigame (Jimbo's Game), a mxmtoon side story with a concert, and a Potion Craft quest that unlocks potion and bait crafting. The GGST pack adds a rhythm song, cosplay guests and a weapon.
In the Jungle is the first full expansion: Utara Village, a freshwater lake, a second restaurant (Bancho Grill), villager relationships and housing, and over 10 hours of new story. It begins after the main ending; a new game can jump straight to it, but you lose context and cannot earn main-game achievements that way. Its first weeks brought many bug-fix patches, including fixes for progression-blocking bugs.
MINTROCKET has also announced Bancho the Chef, a prequel cooking adventure about Bancho's younger years, without a release date. It is a separate game, not a reason to wait.
What it does well
The loop pays off in a way you can see
The best thing in Dave the Diver is how directly the two halves connect. A Blue Tang caught at dawn is on the menu that evening; enhance its recipe and it sells for more (each level adds 30% of the base price, so level 5 is 2.2× the base). The gold then buys a bigger air tank or a better harpoon, which lets you reach fish that make better dishes. Every dive has a purpose because you already know what you will serve tonight. The Sushi Restaurant Guide shows which recipes are worth enhancing at each stage.
A story and cast that carry the game
The story is the part players underestimate. It is a comedy first: Cobra's schemes, Duff's obsession with an idol, Dr. Bacon's research, a rival diving company called Sea Blue, and a steady supply of in-jokes and spoofs. Underneath runs a real mystery about the Sea People and what is causing the Blue Hole's earthquakes. The 14 bosses are part of this, and most of them play like small set pieces rather than damage checks: a chase you simply survive, a duel where you turn an enemy's missiles back on him, a finale fought with Duff's drone. The Boss Guide covers each fight.
Something new keeps arriving
For most of the game, a new system appears every few days: Cooksta ranks, staff hiring and dispatch, the Fish Farm, Otto's farm, weekly FishMon catches, seasonal parties with themed menus, and story minigames such as a rhythm concert and a virtual-pet fish. Pixel-art characters over 3D water make all of it look excellent.
Where it falls short
Minigame overload
The flip side of the variety is interruption. Many evenings start with a cutscene, a call or a new activity before you can get to the loop you wanted, and some story beats are minigames you must pass or fail before moving on. The game softens this in places: Duff's rhythm concert can be left after two failures, and the expansion's minigames can be skipped after one failure since the July 3 patch. But if you want to dive and cook without detours, you will feel this most in the middle chapters.
The restaurant is a shift, not a sim
Bancho Sushi looks like management, but most of the evening is reflex: carrying dishes, pouring tea to the line and cleaning tables before the next guest sits, because a guest at a dirty table walks out. The real decisions (which recipes to enhance, which staff to train, what to post on the menu) take a minute before the shift. Players hoping for Stardew-level farming or a full restaurant business sim will find it thin. Hiring staff who can pour drinks and clean is what makes the shift calmer.
Late-game farming
Enhancing recipes is the main way to raise income, and it costs ingredients: a one-fish recipe needs 23 pieces of that fish to reach level 5. Later recipes and Cooksta ranks ask for more of the same, so the final chapters can turn into catching the same species dive after dive. The Fish Farm helps once it is stocked, but the grind is real for completionists.
Length and pacing
The base game is long for an indie: a prologue, seven chapters and an epilogue, with the restaurant, farms and side quests running alongside. Pacing is front-loaded with new systems, slows in the middle chapters when you are mostly farming and enhancing, and picks up for the last story arc. After the ending you can keep playing: seasonal parties repeat in a random order, weekly FishMon requests continue, and Steam has 43 achievements to chase. In the Jungle adds over 10 hours on top.
Common complaints, and how true they are
| Complaint | Is it true? | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Too many minigames | Yes, in the middle chapters. Some story beats require one | Duff's concert can be passed after two failures; most others are optional |
| I always feel rushed | Partly. Oxygen, shift length and party dates set the pace | No deadline ends the game; missed parties are postponed and FishMon retries weekly |
| The restaurant is chaotic | Early on, yes; Dave does every job himself | Hire and train servers who can pour drinks and clean |
| The late game is a grind | For completion, yes; enhancement eats the same fish | Focus on a few plentiful fish and stock the Fish Farm |
| Weapons break all the time | Crate weapons do, by design, when you surface | Craft permanent guns from Duff's Weapon Shop |
On time pressure: no calendar ends your run. The pressure is short-term (a dive ends when oxygen does, a shift lasts one evening, some events are dated), and the harshest penalty is losing a dive's haul to an empty tank, which an early Air Tank upgrade mostly removes. The Diving and Weapons Guide covers which upgrades make dives calmer.
Dave the Diver compared with similar games
| Game | Core loop | Structure | How Dave the Diver differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stardew Valley | Farm, fish, mine and build relationships in a town | Open-ended seasons with no fixed story | Far more guided: a chapter story drives you, with less freedom and less depth in any one system |
| Moonlighter | Explore dungeons by night, sell loot in your shop by day | Dungeon runs and shop pricing | The same split, but the shop half is an action shift, and the story and cast are much bigger |
| Subnautica | Survive and build on an alien ocean planet in first person | Open exploration with base building and survival needs | Short 2D dives between story beats, comic tone, and no survival needs beyond oxygen |
If you love Stardew Valley, Dave the Diver is the better pick when you want a story to steer you, and the worse one when you want to set your own goals for hundreds of hours. Subnautica fans looking for underwater dread should know it is a comedy first. Balatro players will find its card game here as a free side activity.
Related guides
New to the game: Beginner Guide. Recipes, staff and Cooksta: Sushi Restaurant Guide. Upgrades, guns and depth zones: Diving and Weapons Guide. Every boss and how to beat it: Boss Guide.
★Honest Take — a rare genre mix that works, if you accept the detours
Dave the Diver earns its 9.1 because its two halves really do feed each other: almost every dive has a reason, and almost every evening shows you what that dive was worth. The story, cast and boss fights lift it above a systems game, and the free packs and the In the Jungle expansion have kept it growing long after launch. The reservations are honest ones: no single system is deep, the minigames and side activities interrupt the loop more often than some players like, and the late game asks for repetitive fish farming. None of that is hidden, and none of it stops the game from being one of the most likeable indie games you can buy. If the pitch makes you smile, buy it; if you need one deep system rather than many light ones, look elsewhere.
