Every once in a while, a game seems to come out of nowhere and take everyone by surprise. Last summer, Dave The Diver launched on PC and became an overnight sensation, selling a million copies in ten days. Inspired by the real-life experiences of a South Korean restaurateur, players must divide their time between managing a sushi bar by night (organising rosters, serving up dishes and cleaning away plates) and scuba diving for fresh produce by day.

It sounds inauspicious but it’s utterly captivating, thanks to a wonderful blend of charming 8-bit style graphics and a furiously addictive gameplay loop that constantly innovates. The diving sections are beautifully rendered, with colourful coral and exotic, frequently dangerous marine life to evade and/or gather. Oxygen is (naturally) a finite resource that must be carefully managed in order to reach the most interesting, deeper areas, and the game teases mythical wonders in the ocean’s depths.
On land, the restaurant management section is an almost literal plate-spinning exercise but, remarkably, the overarching experience is actually quite relaxing. Resplendent with a cast of colourful characters and a cute script, PlayStation players will be able to plunge into the fun later this month.
Dave The Diver is out now released by Mintrocket on PC and Nintendo Switch.