Dave the Diver: In the Jungle expansion ‘almost like a sequel’

Mintrocket released In the Jungle, a paid expansion for Dave the Diver, on June 18, 2026. The expansion is available on PC (Steam), PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch/Switch 2. It is priced at $9.99 / €9.99 / £8.99 and offers roughly ten hours of new content. The review key was provided by the publisher. The review tested the PC build on a Ryzen 9 5900X with an RTX 3080 Ti.

The expansion sends protagonist Dave and the Bancho Sushi crew to Utara, a remote jungle village, to investigate a dead ancient creature found beside a freshwater lake. Utara is presented in full isometric perspective, replacing the base game’s side-scrolling surface sections. Time flows in real time in the village. Players can farm, fish on land, catch bugs and gather resources including wood, stone and lizards.

More than 30 non-player characters populate Utara. Building relationships through gifts and favours unlocks side quests and mini-games and can persuade villagers to visit the new jungle restaurant, Bancho Grill. The new restaurant uses the isometric layout: players move around tables while grilling appetizers, mixing drinks and serving dishes to customers who initially distrust Dave’s cooking.

Underwater gameplay retains the core loop of harpooning fish, managing oxygen and stamina, and hauling resources back to shore, but takes place in a freshwater lake. New hazards include crocodiles, electric eels and giant sturgeon. Dave gains a jungle-specific weapon that switches between multiple firing modes for sniping, spread shots and netting.

The expansion adds a turn-based combat system for certain jungle exploration sequences. The review criticized this feature, noting it slows the game’s pacing and can feel awkward compared with the Blue Hole sections.

The review assigned a high score and described In the Jungle as the largest paid expansion the game has received, noting it introduces surface mechanics not present in the 2023 base game. Dave the Diver first launched in 2023 as a hybrid of roguelike deep-sea exploration and restaurant management.