Mintrocket’s Dave the Diver was already one of the smartest value propositions in gaming when it launched in 2023. For roughly $20, you got a hybrid ocean-exploration, restaurant-management, and side-scrolling adventure that felt like three games priced as one. The studio’s new DLC, In the Jungle, asks whether that formula can survive a biome change — and the answer is a clear yes. Released June 18, 2026 at $9.99, this expansion packs more than 10 hours of new story content into a freshwater jungle setting that rewrites the rules veterans thought they knew.
Swapping Salt Water for Jungle Ponds Forces You to Relearn the Game
The core loop of Dave the Diver has always been: dive, gather, cook, repeat. In the Jungle keeps that rhythm but disrupts every instrument in the band. Dave trades the Blue Hole for freshwater lakes and dense forest terrain around the fictional Utara Village, and the new environment demands new tools. The Jungle Gun ships with four firing modes — rifle, shotgun, sniper, and net — each suited to different catch situations underwater and on land.
More surprising is the shift to turn-based combat when Dave runs into the jungle’s larger threats. Giant spiders, venomous frogs, baboons, and massive snakes do not simply swim away. These encounters play out in a timing-based battle system where hitting a button at the precise moment deals bonus damage or absorbs an incoming hit. It is a mechanical left turn that feels out of place for about 20 minutes, then clicks into something genuinely satisfying.
The village layer adds further depth. Utara is rendered in a top-down perspective reminiscent of a Stardew Valley layout. You walk Dave from a customizable cabin out into the streets, chop trees for furniture, gather herbs and ore, talk to locals, and stroll straight down to the lake to dive. The entire day flows as one uninterrupted experience rather than a series of menu transitions. That seamlessness is what separates polished DLC from content that feels bolted on.
Over 30 New Characters and a Relationship System Give the Village Real Weight
Mintrocket head Hwang Jae-ho described the DLC’s design goal as delivering a gameplay experience that is distinctly different from the original while still feeling unmistakably like Dave the Diver. The character roster is where that philosophy shows up most clearly. Utara Village comes populated with more than 30 new characters, each carrying a disposition meter that shifts based on how you engage with them. Talk down to someone, ignore a request, or play favorites, and the meter moves accordingly.
This relationship management system is not just window dressing. Building affinity unlocks story threads, side quests, and material rewards that feed back into the kitchen. The cooking side of the expansion centers on the new Bancho Grill, which marries the tropical freshwater ingredient roster with the same restaurant-management mechanics that made the base game so addictive. New fish species exclusive to the jungle lakes mean new recipes, new menu experimentation, and new revenue optimization if you approach it like the miniature business sim it is.
The story runs between seven and fifteen hours depending on how deep you go into side content. Given the $9.99 price point, that hourly value ratio is difficult to argue with.
Mintrocket Is Proving That Smart DLC Is a Business Model, Not an Afterthought
The broader context here matters for anyone who tracks the games industry as a business. Mintrocket is a small division within Nexon, a South Korean publisher with significant resources, but the studio operates with a smaller-team, lower-risk creative mandate. Dave the Diver sold one million copies in its first ten days in 2023, and the base game’s ongoing commercial strength is what funds expansions like this one.
In the Jungle is not a cosmetic pack or a seasonal battle pass. It is a structural addition that introduces new gameplay pillars — land exploration, village progression, turn-based combat, and relationship management — without dismantling what made the original work. That is a difficult balance to strike, and it is worth noting as a case study in how to extend a live game without hollowing it out.
The DLC is available now on PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. If you finished the base game and walked away satisfied, In the Jungle offers a legitimate reason to return. If you have never played Dave the Diver, the combined package remains one of the better value pitches in gaming right now.
Based on reporting from PC Gamer.