Dave the Diver In the Jungle Review: A Big, Risky Return Trip

Image: IGDB

Store links: Dave the Diver: In the Jungle on Steam

A $10 expansion with sequel-sized ambition

Mintrocket’s In the Jungle released on June 18, 2026 as paid DLC for Dave the Diver, and PC Gamer’s review listing puts the price at $10/£8.49 with Mintrocket named as both developer and publisher. That price is the first useful clue about the scale here. This is not positioned like the smaller novelty add-ons that surrounded Dave’s post-launch life. According to PC Gamer, the expansion adds a new restaurant setup and enough activities that its reviewer had spent more than 25 hours with it and was still not finished. TheGamer went further, saying the package was substantial enough that it could have been imagined as a sequel.

That creates the real question for this Dave the Diver In the Jungle review: does a bigger map and a busier checklist actually improve Dave’s core rhythm, or does it bury a clean dive-and-serve loop under extra systems? The answer is mostly encouraging. In the Jungle works because its additions are built around discovery. It gives returning players a new ecosystem to read, a village to learn, and several fresh progression hooks without throwing out the pleasure of spearfishing by day and feeding customers by night.

It also has a glaring weakness. The Wand Report’s review criticizes the DLC’s narrative framing, especially its depiction of the jungle village and the way Bancho’s cooking expertise is introduced to the locals. That tension runs through the whole expansion. Mechanically, In the Jungle is one of the most generous pieces of Dave the Diver DLC so far. Narratively, it is rougher than its charming surface first suggests.

The jungle earns its place by changing how exploration breathes

The most important design win is Utara Lake, described by TheGamer as a freshwater ecosystem that shifts Dave away from the familiar Blue Hole while still preserving the series’ underwater structure. The new threats and catches matter because they ask you to look at the water differently. The Wand Report names crocodiles, electric eels, and giant sturgeon among the dangers in the lake, while TheGamer notes that the mystery eventually leads beneath the lake bed into deep-sea spaces with prehistoric marine life.

That layering is smart. The jungle setting could have been a cosmetic swap, with green backdrops above and the same old dive pressure below. Instead, the DLC uses freshwater life, submerged secrets, and environmental puzzles, highlighted by Game8, to make exploration feel newly legible. You are still managing oxygen, inventory, danger, and time, but the mental map is refreshed. Returning players get the comfort of Dave’s original loop with enough unfamiliar wildlife and route planning to bring back the early-game pleasure of asking, “What is that, and can I safely get close to it?”

The Jungle Gun is the clearest mechanical expression of that goal. TheGamer describes it as a combination weapon with net, armor-piercing sniper rifle, shotgun, and basic rifle modes that can be swapped while diving, with separate upgrade trees for each setting. In practice, that sounds like a strong quality-of-life correction for a game that has always made preparation part of the fun but occasionally part of the friction. A flexible tool risks flattening loadout decisions, but individual upgrades keep some specialization intact. For a DLC that wants you to confront new creatures quickly, that is a sensible compromise.

Village life turns progression into a social puzzle

Above the water, In the Jungle makes its boldest break from the base game. The Wand Report describes a freely explorable isometric village with a real timer, resource gathering, simple tasks, and relationship meters. It compares the structure to a light Stardew Valley-style layer, while also noting that the systems are simpler than dedicated cozy life sims. Villagers have preferences, tasks feed into gifts, and a tool helps track who wants what.

That simplicity is not a flaw in itself. Dave the Diver has always excelled at compact, approachable versions of other genres: management, cooking, photography, stealth, boss fights, rhythm gags, and minigames folded into one elastic routine. In the Jungle follows that tradition. It gives you wood, stone, lizards, gifts, requests, and heart meters, then uses those social connections to pull villagers toward Bancho’s new grill. The result is a new reason to care about the space above the water instead of treating it as a menu between dives.

The question is whether the village meaningfully expands the exploration loop. It does, because it gives the act of returning to shore more texture. You are no longer only thinking about what fish will sell. You are thinking about which local favor you can complete, which ingredient supports the grill, which relationship gate might open the next thread, and whether a short resource run is worth the time. Game8 notes that the DLC adds an RPG-like overworld, a friendship system, environmental puzzles, and occasional turn-based combat. Those systems are not equally deep, but together they make the jungle feel like a place you inhabit rather than a backdrop you visit.

The grill keeps the restaurant loop familiar, sometimes too familiar

The restaurant side has been re-skinned and lightly redirected rather than rebuilt. TheGamer reports that the sushi bar is swapped for a grill that uses new ingredients and recipes, while also saying the restaurant gameplay remains very familiar. That is exactly the tradeoff buyers should expect from this Dave the Diver expansion. If you wanted a complete rethink of evening service, In the Jungle does not appear to be chasing that. If you wanted a new ingredient economy attached to Dave’s proven service rhythm, the grill is a comfortable fit.

The best part of the change is how it connects to the village. The Wand Report notes that villagers may begin visiting Bancho’s grill once relationships develop, giving the social layer a practical payoff. That is stronger than a separate side activity because it feeds into Dave’s central loop: explore, gather, prepare, serve, upgrade, repeat. The DLC’s design craft is in those little circuits. A favor can lead to a villager. A villager can lead to a customer. A dive can lead to a recipe. A recipe can fund the next tool or upgrade.

The weaker part is that returning players who exhausted the base game may feel some repetition. Game8’s review praises the blend of old and new mechanics but also says the story setup parallels the original Blue Hole saga and can feel like the same structure with a different skin. That criticism applies lightly to the restaurant layer too. It is satisfying because Dave’s restaurant loop remains satisfying, but the grill does not transform the management game as dramatically as the village transforms movement and progression above ground.

The story is charming in shape, clumsy in framing

In the Jungle begins with a prehistoric beast washing ashore in the jungle, according to TheGamer and The Wand Report, with Dave and company drawn into a new local mystery. On paper, that is prime Dave the Diver material: odd science, goofy danger, sudden escalation, and a cast that can pivot from slapstick to earnest teamwork in a few scenes. PC Gamer’s verdict calls the DLC charming and surprising, and several sources highlight the density of activities, bosses, characters, cameos, and jokes.

The problem is the cultural framing around the village. The Wand Report’s review is explicit in criticizing the DLC for relying on stereotypes, pointing to the feathered chief, bamboo houses, and a setup where Bancho teaches the locals how to cook fish safely. Game8 is more positive on the story, scoring it 8/10, but even that review says the broad setup feels similar to the original game’s crew-helping-a-community structure. Those views do not cancel each other out. They describe different sides of the same issue: the DLC has energy, characters, and structure, but its premise leans on a familiar outsider-savior pattern that can make the warmth feel less effortless.

For me, that keeps the story score below the rest of the package. Dave the Diver’s humor works best when everyone on screen gets to be strange, capable, and specific. When the joke depends on a vague exotic village needing Dave’s crew to modernize or instruct it, the writing loses some of the generosity that makes the series special. It does not sink the expansion, but it makes this an easier recommendation for mechanics-first players than for anyone who comes to Dave primarily for its character work.

Presentation, platform notes, and value

Visually, the jungle setting gives Mintrocket’s pixel art a strong new palette. Game8 praises the added flora, fauna, creatures, color, and environmental detail, and that matches what this expansion needed most. Dave’s original ocean thrived on curiosity, silhouettes, and the little thrill of spotting a creature before identifying it. A freshwater jungle gives the artists a different set of textures without abandoning the chunky, expressive style that makes the game instantly readable.

The supplied sources are more specific about PC than other platforms. PC Gamer reviewed In the Jungle on an Intel i7 9700K, RTX 4070 Ti, and 16GB RAM system, lists multiplayer as “No,” VR as “No,” and says Steam Deck is Verified. The Wand Report and Game8 also reviewed on PC. TheXboxHub published an Xbox Series X review, which confirms review coverage on Microsoft’s current console ecosystem, though the provided source text does not include a full platform availability list. If you are buying outside PC or Xbox, check your storefront before assuming same-day access.

At $10/£8.49, the value case is strong. PC Gamer’s 25-plus-hour account is the standout data point, and even if your playtime comes in lower, the reported spread of freshwater diving, village tasks, bosses, grill recipes, social progression, minigames, and turn-based battles gives this DLC far more heft than a cosmetic add-on. The caution is fit. If you bounced off Dave the Diver because the game kept interrupting fishing with new genre experiments, In the Jungle doubles down on that habit. If you loved the base game because every session seemed to produce a new toy, character, menu, or mystery, this is built for you.

Verdict

Dave the Diver: In the Jungle meaningfully expands Dave’s exploration loop by giving the dives a new freshwater identity and the surface a village structure worth returning to. Utara Lake, the Jungle Gun, relationship tasks, and the grill form a sturdy new circuit that rewards curiosity without discarding the base game’s best routine. It feels generous, colorful, and busy in the way Dave the Diver is supposed to feel busy.

Its weaknesses are real. The restaurant layer stays close to the old formula, some systems sound intentionally lightweight, and the story’s village framing deserves the criticism raised by The Wand Report. Those issues stop In the Jungle from being a clean essential for every player. They do not stop it from being one of the most substantial and inviting reasons to return to Dave’s world.

For returning fans, this is an easy recommendation with one caveat: come for the mechanics, exploration, and value, but do not expect the writing to match the confidence of the design. For newcomers, play the base game first. In the Jungle is at its best when it feels like rediscovering Dave the Diver from a new shoreline.