Dave The Diver Got Me Hooked, Line and Sinker

I know I’m late to the party here. Dave the Diver came out way back in June 2023, and I’ll be honest, back then I was way too caught up in Red Dead Redemption 2 to notice any other games that launched…Sorry Dave! It wasn’t until the Jungle expansion came out recently that it put the game well and truly on my radar.

I could tell just by looking at it this was going to be a game I enjoyed. Diving for fish during the day and running a sushi restaurant at night? Count me in!

Now, after getting stuck in, I can confidently say this is one of the best games I’ve played so far. From the surprisingly addictive gameplay to the wonderfully weird, funny characters, and the sheer amount of stuff there is to discover, there’s a lot more to Dave the Diver than I initially expected.

Let’s dive in…

So, What Do You Actually Do?

Developed by Mintrocket, Dave the Diver drops you into the Blue Hole, a mysterious stretch of ocean that, as I quickly discovered, is hiding a lot more than just fish.

The basic idea is pretty simple. During the day, you head out into the Blue Hole to catch fish and collect ingredients. Then, once evening rolls around, you head back to the surface and help Bancho run his sushi restaurant with the fish you caught during the day.

And that’s pretty much the game, except, it really isn’t.

I spent a lot of time thinking I had a pretty good idea of what Dave the Diver was going to throw at me, only for the game to introduce something completely new. You’ll unlock new areas to explore, better equipment to help you dive deeper, new characters, new quests, and plenty of surprises along the way.

Even though you’re essentially following the same day-to-night routine, it never really feels like you’re doing the same thing over and over again. There’s always something else waiting for you, and I often found myself thinking, “I’ll just do one more dive” before realizing I’d been playing for another hour.

The smartphone you get in-game is a big part of this. As you progress, you’ll unlock new apps that introduce different features and make keeping track of everything you’re doing much easier. You’ll use it for everything from checking your fish to managing quests and keeping an eye on the various things you’ve got going on.

It’s a small detail, but I really liked it. Every time a new app appeared on Dave’s phone, it felt like unlocking another little piece of the game.

There’s a Lot More Than Fishing

Of course, diving and running the sushi restaurant are only the beginning. There are loads of side quests to discover, and most of them are connected to the game’s wonderfully strange cast of characters. They’re a great way of breaking up the main story, and thankfully, they don’t feel like those annoying side quests that you’re only doing because the game is forcing you to.

Actually, this is probably a good time to talk about the humor too. Dave the Diver is funny. Properly funny at times. Some of the cutscenes caught me completely off guard, and there were a few moments where I genuinely laughed out loud. The restaurant scenes are a particular highlight, especially when Bancho is preparing food in his ridiculously dramatic style that I’m thinking took inspiration from “Salt Bae”.

There’s a slightly absurd, over-the-top feel to the whole thing, and I think that’s a huge part of the game’s charm. It knows exactly how ridiculous some of its ideas are and isn’t afraid to have fun with them.

Okay, There Is A LOT Going On

If I had to find one thing that might put some people off Dave the Diver, it’s the sheer amount of stuff the game throws at you.

You’ve got the diving. You’ve got the restaurant. Then you’ve got side quests, farming, equipment upgrades, story missions, characters to meet, and all sorts of other things that gradually get added to the mix.

I can absolutely understand why some people might look at all of that and think, “Hang on, what am I supposed to be doing again?” However, the good thing is that Dave the Diver doesn’t really care if you do everything straight away.

You can take your time and ignore a side quest for a while. You can spend an evening concentrating on the restaurant, or forget about the restaurant altogether and go exploring. Even when a quest has a time limit, missing it isn’t the end of the world. You don’t get punished for not doing everything perfectly, and that really takes the pressure off.

I’ve found myself just following whatever I fancy doing when I load the game up. Sometimes I want to push further into the Blue Hole. Sometimes I want to improve the restaurant. Sometimes I just want to see what ridiculous thing Dave and his friends are going to get themselves involved in next.

That freedom is a big part of why I haven’t found the amount of content overwhelming.

One Thing I Wish I’d Known

I only have one small warning for anyone planning to play Dave the Diver on a laptop. If you’re planning on just using a trackpad, you’re going to want to grab a mouse before you start.

There’s a section fairly early in the tutorial that requires some specific movements which just aren’t particularly practical with a trackpad. I ended up having to connect a mouse, and it’s one of those tiny things that would have been nice to know before I started playing.

Of course, most players will be playing on a desktop computer and with the mobile release due to launch at the end of this month, this isn’t a huge issue many will need to worry about.

My Verdict

I absolutely love Dave the Diver. I went into this expecting a fun little game about catching fish and running a sushi restaurant. What I got was something much bigger, much stranger, and much more entertaining than I expected.

The diving is fun. The restaurant management is surprisingly addictive. The story kept me interested, the characters are ridiculous in the best possible way, and there’s constantly something new being thrown into the mix.

Yes, there is a lot going on. I can completely understand why that might be a little overwhelming, but once you realize that you don’t have to do everything and that you can simply play at your own pace, it becomes a lot more fun.

I’ve already finished the main story, and I’m now planning to jump straight into the Jungle expansion. If you’re still sitting on the fence with this one, give it a try!