Dave the Diver Reviews
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.
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.
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.
Dave the Diver, needless to say, was an absolutely delightful surprise that I would recommend to just about anyone. It offers so much variety in gameplay ideas that there is something here for everyone. I’d love to express everything I absolute loved about the game, but what impressed me so much was not knowing all the things this game offered, and I wouldn’t want to strip you of that. This may have not been the mindless fishing exploration game I was expecting, but it became so much more than I even initially wanted.
Dave the Diver is an absolute delight to play. Its core gameplay loop is wonderfully relaxing, but before too long players will be finding all the different options in its nooks and crannies. It’s surely one of the best games of the year so far, and players will love taking on the role of our goatee'd hero.
Dave the Diver is a product of unrivaled brilliance for the whole package it offers. It is a passionate adventure capable of stimulating the player through a comfortable and inviting atmosphere, which gives us all the time we want to explore and experience it at our own pace. Charismatic, warm, welcoming and thought-provoking, Dave's adventure will certainly be canonized in the same pantheon as other indie classics, responsible for unique experiences that raise the bar for video games as multisensory forms of entertainment.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
No matter what I was doing, me and Dave were having a pretty good time and along the way a strange little family of misfits was born, all based around my own favourite food: sushi. Dave the Diver isn’t as deep as the ocean, but it’s deep enough and casts its net wide to drag in all manner of crazy elements. The mix of underwater water adventuring and sushi bar management is like a sumptuous piece of salmon nigiri: simple yet elegant, basic and yet somehow so effortlessly tasty. The game’s other elements serve as the soy sauce for dipping and wasabi for that little touch of tingle on the tongue
Dave the Diver is a game that presents you with the experience of diving and fishing in the deep sea and managing a seafood restaurant in the background of a pixel art painting. If you embrace your curiosity like me, you'll find yourself engrossed in this underwater adventure and the unique restaurant management aspect for hours on end.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Dave the Diver is a huge surprise this year. The game just came out of nowhere and was fantastic. The seemingly primitive title has much more to it than one might expect, so we strongly recommend not underestimating it. If you like underwater adventures with good humor, this will be the game for you.
Review in Czech | Read full review
DAVE THE DIVER is one of the surprises of this year. Fun and with an endless number of mechanics that will catch you.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Dave the Diver is a big surprise and a beautiful labor of love. The developers spent a lot of time trying to balance all the gameplay elements present in Diver Dave's adventure and they were clearly very successful in this attempt. Appreciators of a good video game will quickly realize that something special has been achieved here. This is one of the best titles of 2023 and an unmissable addition to your library of gems on Nintendo Switch.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Dave the Diver deserves all the attention it has already received. It's a charming and addictive game. An experience which, despite a rather simplistic central conflict, manages to constantly surprise the audience with its ton of mechanics and varied, easy-to-grasp content. We can only recommend that you take a Christmas vacation by the ocean with Dave.
Review in French | Read full review
The combination of genres in DAVE THE DIVER is as unexpected as it is effective. One part of the game consists of the management and administration of a small sushi restaurant and the other part will be focused on diving in a giant and quite deep pit to obtain the fish that will later be cooked and sold in the restaurant. The premise seems simple but hours of fun await us and we will be given the option to delve into its gameplay as much as we want. DAVE THE DIVER is one of the most interesting indies of the year and you have to try it without hesitation.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
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.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Dave the Diver is a complete package of a full-sized game, designed to be enjoyed in the most relaxing mood that will give you the taste of experiencing thrill and adventure in the first half and drive your management brain cells to their max in the other half. Backed with an impressive storyline and much extra content, Dave the Diver exceeds its value for money. However, the grind will become repetitive after a while, and you may need more clarification about things for which the game does not elaborate well.
DAVE THE DIVER is a fun dive into a mysterious ocean locale. The game really comes to life on the Nintendo Switch. While some might wish there was just a bit more, it has more than enough content to keep a person busy for a good long while. You can get completely lost simply exploring the ocean without doing any hunting, provided supplies for Bancho’s Sushi are stocked up.
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.
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.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
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.
Review in Slovak | Read full review