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Critic Reviews: DAVE THE DIVER

Platforms:

  • PC (Jun 28, 2023)

Trailers:

Developer: MINTROCKET

OpenCritic - 89 average - 100% recommended - 29 reviews

Critic Reviews

CGMagazine - Steven Green - 9 / 10

Dave The Diver will end up being one of those fundamental titles that people talk about in the same breath as Stardew Valley, where it achieves on nearly every front.

Digital Chumps - Nathaniel Stevens - 10 / 10

Dave the Diver from Mint Rocket is something to behold. The game features exploration, collection, side quests, an RPG backbone, and a restaurant simulator, all of which are beautifully balanced and connected. This is by far one of the better games of 2023 and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Entertainium - Eduardo Rebouças - Mind-blown

Dave the Diver offers up a delightfully fresh take in a whole bunch of gaming genres that just works.

Game Informer - Matt Miller - 8.8 / 10

You might question whether a sushi restaurant management sim crossed with underwater diving is your cup of tea, but that would be missing the point. Dave the Diver is a unique and memorable vacation away from expectations, and it’s the very fact that you don’t usually play games like this that makes it so satisfying.

Game Rant - Shane Robert Moyer - 4 / 5

Every moment in Dave the Diver feels unique the first time through. The constant changing of side-missions, the cutscenes when upgrading weapons or fish dishes, and the eccentric cast of characters, all blend together so well into a game that, when viewed just from the surface, might seem shallow. But players willing to dive into the meat of the game will find even more enjoyment than they bargained for, especially with its official 1.0 release. It’s a single-player adventure with heart, good music (‘Hot Pepper Tuna’ will likely end up on a lot of people's personal playlists), and a cast of characters that feel right at home around The Blue Hole. Its eccentricities make it memorable, and Dave might be the kindest and most fun adventuring protagonist players encounter in the world of video games this year.

GameLuster - Kate Mitchell Jewett - 9 / 10

Dave the Diver is a gorgeous underwater experience that centers around the beauty and mystery found in the depths of the sea. It's packed full of mechanics, some better than others, but its central dives truly shine.

Gamersky - 心灵奇兵 - Chinese - 8.5 / 10

Dave the Diver is a game with a distinctive style that demonstrates the potential of the medium with its comprehensive and varied gameplay. While the late-game mechanics may feel repetitive in the full version, the enjoyable fishing experience for the first ten hours makes it worth the price of admission.

GamesFinest - Vanessa Böttcher - German - 9 / 10

Dave the Diver is a small surprise of the gaming year so far. With a coherent and complex overall package and a lot of creative ideas and attention to detail, the indie title does a lot right and will probably earn a top position on the permanent favorites list of many players.

God is a Geek - Lyle Carr - 9.5 / 10

Whether you're diving into the depths or managing a sushi restaurant, Dave the Diver is full of ideas and engaging from start to finish.

Hey Poor Player - Heather Johnson Yu - 4.5 / 5

Dave the Diver was crafted by video game visionaries with a pure love of fun. I have never seen a game jampack so much into one seemingly tiny title and somehow make it all work with the clarity of something smaller in scope. Dave the Diver doesn’t just deserve your attention, it demands it, and if you’ve been waiting for your sign to dive into this addicting game, I’m telling you now it’s time to take the plunge.

Hu3br - Lucas Moura - Portuguese - 10 / 10

A charming, fantastic mashup of genres that delivers on all fronts. Dave the Diver is funny, cozy, fascinating to explore, with a solid cast and even more amazing cinematics. It treats its world as a tangible place other than a “place to gather resources”. Its management aspects don’t overdo anything but are just enough to keep you invested. Easily one of the best games of 2023 so far.

IGN - Travis Northup - 9 / 10

Dave The Diver is an aquatic adventure RPG that’s wholesome, wonderfully complex, and delightfully hard to put down.

INVEN - Soojin Kim - Korean - 8.8 / 10

Dave the Diver shows a perfect connection between two genres, Adventure and Tycoon. While adventure element is deep, Tycoon part gives a speedy, hectic fun. On top of that, well handled B-rated vibe, attractive characters, and various mini-games are creating a synergy throughout the game play.

Kotaku - John Walker - Unscored

Dave The Diver very much deserves the enormous success it’s received in its first month, selling over a million copies, and hopefully making developers Mintrocket enormously rich. They’ve created something really special, an RPG-meets-Diner Dash-meets gentle SCUBA sim, that manages to feel utterly crammed to the gills with things to do, yet joyfully relaxing to play.

Metro GameCentral - GameCentral - 8 / 10

A wonderfully strange and imaginative indie adventure that delights in terms of its visuals, storytelling, and enjoyably unpredictable gameplay.

PC Gamer - Christopher Livingston - 91 / 100

Charming, deep, and constantly surprising, Dave the Diver is packed with activities and full of heart.

Polygon - Jeffrey Parkin - Unscored

What makes Dave the Diver work so well is wanting to see what comes next. In another game that just tacked on mechanics and plot devices with no plan, it could feel like the padding around a threadbare premise. But Dave’s kitchen sink approach somehow feels like a perfectly logical, if absurd, escalation — like a Tim Robinson sketch in game form. It’s a teetering pile of mechanics and minigames that never gets around to collapsing because the balancing act is just too much fun.

Prima Games - Madison Benson - 9.5 / 10

A game you won’t be disappointed you played and something absolutely worth your time.

Pure Dead Gaming - DeadbeatpunK - 9 / 10

DAVE THE DIVER begins off pleasantly and lays out new mechanics at a steady pace. The joy never dwindles and it’s a pleasure to play through. Whether you’ve settled in for a long or short session of play, you will get a sense of achievement thanks to the structure of the day and night cycles. I played this primarily on Steam Deck and it feels right at home there. An incredibly endearing adventure and one of the easiest game recommendations of the year.

SECTOR.sk - Jaroslav Otčenáš - Slovak - 8.5 / 10

Games are often referred to as mixing the right ingredients and mixing the best recipe. But in the case of Dave the diver, the ingredients and recipes on the plate are the most important thing, not metaphorically, but completely practically. And the resulting food tastes so good that you will lick your fingers.

SVG - Savannah Howe - 9 / 10

Dave the Diver is endearing and lively, a feel-good game to its core, with just enough lore and mystery to keep nudging you along.

Saving Content - Scott Ellison II - 5 / 5

Like the ocean itself, there’s so much depth to DAVE THE DIVER , as there’s more that’s hidden beneath the surface. The stunning graphics, mesmerizing sound design, and well-crafted gameplay combine to create an unforgettable experience. Whether you’re a fan of exploration games or simply have a love for ocean games, this is sure to captivate you for dozens of hours. Prepare to have your expectations blown out of the water, as it constantly introduces new and exciting things right up until the end. DAVE THE DIVER is a treasure of a find, so take the plunge on what is one of the best games you’ll play this year.

Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 9 / 10

Dave the Diver combines two excellent gameplay elements, but still feels like more than the sum of its parts. Deep sea diving and sushi restaurant management are equally enjoyable and complex, making for a supremely addicting gameplay loop. Not only is it the surprise hit of the summer, but it’s one we’ll be having a discussion about when it’s time to look back on 2023’s best games.

Spaziogames - Stefania Sperandio - Italian - 8.2 / 10

Dave the Diver is one of the most interesting games of this year. From such a simple concept – bring some fish to your restaurant! – the game keeps building on its gameplay and deepening the experience, captivating the player in an enjoyable and magnetic loop that you will find hard to jump off from.

The Game Crater - Milo Stown - 8 / 10

Dave the Diver is an incredibly charming experience, offering players a somewhat repetitive gameplay loop fortunately saved by its wonderful characters. Its often time cosy atmosphere, offset ever so slightly by the visceral act of hunting fish, and engrossing sushi bar management gameplay kept me coming back for more, despite repetitive fetch quest objectives and ironically shallow fishing. Considering its very low price point, this gorgeous, hilarious, and extremely enjoyable experience is absolutely worth it, especially for all the sushi enthusiasts out there.

The Games Machine - Alessandro Alosi - Italian - 8.9 / 10

Dave the Diver deserves to be a hit of summer 2023. He does not innovate and does not offer new gameplay mechanics, he is "only" concerned with giving ten hours of superfine quality and succeeds with a style and lightness from which one immediately becomes addicted. It is a much more accurate work than it seems, an experience in magnificent balance between its two souls, characterized by an immense heart and continually able to amaze you as it drags you deeper and deeper into the abyss of the "another dive and I shut off" loop.

The Punished Backlog - 9.5 / 10

Dave the Diver is a magical, mesmerizing, unforgettable gem. Mintrocket’s debut game isn’t just one of the best indie games of the year—it’s also quickly become one of my favorite games of the last decade. Its world is beautiful, tantalizing, and surprisingly dangerous. Dave and the cast are well-written and meticulously animated. The sushi makes me hungry every time I play. Dave the Diver more than delivers on its promise as a fun maritime adventure and role-playing game. Part salt-water exploration game, part sushi restaurant management sim, the game becomes so much more than the ocean blue aesthetic that initially meets the eye.

TheReviewGeek - Greg Wheeler - 9 / 10

Dave the Diver is a delightfully delicious game packed full of charm. It’s a title that doubles up as both an adventure sim and a restaurant tycoon, and harmoniously blends both beats together to create one of the best symphonies of 2023. This is an an absolute must-play.

Twinfinite - Kristina Ebanez - 4.5 / 5

With so many elements of Dave the Diver, I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface since many other concepts bring even more to the table, including a fully functional phone, fish farming, and fun minigames. But, if you want to experience it in its entirety, you’ll have to swim your way to Steam to get this absolute gem of a game. I know I’m already hooked in, and it’s quickly become one of the best titles I’ve played this year.

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