What it's about a diver by day, a sushi chef by night
You play Dave, a chubby diver who works two jobs for the same friend. By day you dive into the Blue Hole, a spot in the sea where the fish, the layout and even the tide change every time you go in. You catch what you can with a harpoon and bring it back. By night you serve it as sushi in a restaurant run by your friend Bancho, who is very serious about his rice.
That's the loop, and it's a great one. The more you dive, the more you can upgrade, and the more you cook, the more people turn up. Somewhere in the middle there's a mystery about the Sea People and what's really going on down there, but you don't need to know any of it to enjoy a dive.
How I got into it a free demo I couldn't stop playing
I really love Dave the Diver. I started with a free demo the Nintendo store was pushing and I just couldn't stop after the demo was over. The art style did it for me at first. I loved the bright colours, and the music underwater really charmed me. It was such a chill game, so beautiful and colourful.
I was having a really bad time in my life when I started playing, and it kept me company during those incredibly tough times. I still play it today to chill, and it still helps me when I'm having a bad day. It's one of my very favourite games, 325+ hours in.
Now that I've finished the main game and the amazing In the Jungle DLC, I typically just go and play for a whole day in the game: two dives and one restaurant service. I never get tired of it, or of how chill the dive is.
How it looks pixel art full of light, and cinematics that make me laugh
It's one of the prettiest pixel-art games I've played. The sea is full of light and colour, the fish look great, and the cinematics are properly funny, with big dramatic moments for things that really don't need them. You can tell the people who made it were having fun. The boss cinematics are brilliant too.
On a TV it's the best way to see it, because the colours really pop. In handheld it still looks lovely, it's just the text that suffers.
How it sounds floaty underwater, an upbeat kitchen and boss music that rules
The music is a big hook for me, and I'll repeat it: the music is really, really good. Underwater it's calm and floaty, the kind of soundtrack that makes you want to swim around for no reason. Then evening comes and the restaurant is more upbeat, with an easy-listening groove that makes serving sushi feel like a dance. The boss music is amazing as well.
The little sounds are good too: the harpoon, the splashes, the plates, the customers reacting. It works just as well with headphones late at night as it does through the TV.
The story and the people warm, funny, and I won't say more
The storyline is nice, and the characters you meet along the way are endearing as hell. The humour does a lot of the work: it's a story that doesn't take itself too seriously, which is exactly what I want after work. I won't say more, because finding out is half the fun.
It's a game that's always a guaranteed good time, even if it's for one dive and nothing else.
After work: effort and challenge one dive is a session, a whole day is a treat
Does it give you space to chill? Completely. The first hour is amazing: the mechanics are really easy to pick up and the fun is instant. You're underwater and grabbing fish within minutes, and the challenge is gentle. If you run out of oxygen you lose a bit of loot and that's about it.
Effort is the catch. By the third or fourth evening you're managing staff, growing ingredients, upgrading gear, answering messages on Dave's phone and chasing side quests. None of it is hard, it's just a lot of little things to keep in your head. If you play regularly that's a nice routine. If you skip a week, you open the menus and need a minute to remember what you were doing.
But one dive is a perfectly good session, and that's why I keep coming back. When I have a whole evening, I do two dives and a restaurant service, and I'm happy.
Docked vs handheld I prefer docked, in the dark with headphones
It works really well both ways, but I prefer docked, because of how immersive it gets. I love playing docked, in the dark with headphones, and I'm transported into Dave's world straight away. The colours look better on the TV, and the text is easier to read, which matters because recipes and menus are full of tiny words.
Handheld is great for diving, because swimming around doesn't need much reading, but planning a restaurant menu on the small screen is a squint.
What gets in the way tiny text, a lot of jobs and the dinner rush
- The text is small, especially in handheld. Recipes and menus are tough on tired eyes.
- If you skip a week, you come back to a pile of tasks and no memory of which ones mattered.
- The restaurant's rush hour can feel stressful if you just wanted to chill.
On Switch 2 free upgrade, higher resolution, smoother swimming
There's a Switch 2 Edition, out in November 2025, and it's free for anyone who owns the Switch version. It has a higher resolution and a smoother frame rate, and swimming feels lovely. The game was already pretty, so it isn't a big transformation, but I'd take the free upgrade every time. The game costs €19.99, and the upgrade is free if you own the base edition. If you don't own it yet, a physical Complete Edition for Switch 2 came out on 8 October 2026 at €49.99, with the base game and all the DLC released so far.
In the Jungle
More of everything I love about the game, in a brand new place. The story and the characters are well made, and it feels like a second game.
I finished the main game, then the In the Jungle DLC, and it's amazing. It takes Dave to a jungle village called Utara and a freshwater lake, with new fish that behave differently, so a dive doesn't feel like the old ones. The restaurant gets a jungle-inspired menu too. The studio says it adds more than ten hours of new story and gameplay, and it feels like it.
The story and the characters are well made, and the characters are even more endearing than in the main game. I've read some reviews saying it has some colonial connotations, but I didn't even think of that while playing. For me the music and the characters are enchanting, and I'm not going to say more, because finding out is half the fun.
You need the base game to play it, and it makes the most sense once you've got to know how dives and the restaurant work. If you already love Dave, get it without thinking twice.
There are other add-ons too. Ichiban's Holiday is a second paid DLC at €6.89, which I haven't tried. Dredge and Godzilla are free, and both are really cool. Dredge adds a new mechanic with the boat, a whole new underwater area and new recipes. Godzilla adds a new quest, and I won't say more to keep the secret.
- A new place that changes how dives feel
- Story and characters that are even better
- More than ten hours of new things
- You need the base game first
- It adds even more things to keep track of
Verdict one of my favourites, and the easiest game to switch off with
Dave the Diver is one of my very favourite games, and I want this whole review to show it. The art, the colours and the music get me every time. The first hour is instantly fun, the cinematics make me laugh, and the boss fights have music I'd listen to on its own. And a single dive is the calmest ten minutes you can have on the console.
For after work it's close to perfect. Play one dive and stop, or give yourself a lazy day of two dives and a restaurant service. It does ask for a bit of attention once the restaurant gets busy and the little jobs pile up, but it pays you back in charm.
If you want a game to switch off with, put the lights down, headphones on, and press play. The In the Jungle DLC, just above, is worth it once you're hooked, and the free Dredge and Godzilla DLCs are really cool too.
