Highlights
- Dave The Diver, an indie hit, combines undersea exploration, action, cooking, and restaurant management, appealing to a range of players.
- Similar games to Dave The Diver include Abzu, Beyond Blue, Sushi Striker, Sakuna of Rice and Ruin, Moonlighter, Battle Chef Brigade, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, Ecco The Dolphin: Defender Of The Future, and Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits.
- Each of these games offers unique gameplay experiences, such as underwater exploration, puzzle-solving, sushi matching, rice farming, dungeon exploration, cooking, and turn-based battles, catering to different preferences.
Dave The Diver, Mintrocket's massive indie hit that combines undersea exploration, action, cooking, and restaurant management, has been engaging all kinds of players, from those familiar with indies to others who have never been interested in any other games like it before.
While Dave The Diver has plenty of activities for players to enjoy, it doesn't take very long for mainliners or completionists to finish compared to some of its contemporaries, taking around 22 to 40 hours. Luckily for them, while there are no games quite as unique, there have been plenty with some similar aspects that they'll still enjoy.
9 Abzu
An underwater adventure by Giant Squid, including some developers from the same team behind Journey, Abzu has players exploring the ocean instead of the desert as an unnamed female diver. Abzu is primarily about exploration and puzzle-solving, using the environment and some brief cutscenes to tell a story.
Ocean life isn't the only thing the diver encounters, though, as there's also ancient technology that they must inspect and sometimes deal with as it harms surrounding ocean life, with deactivation allowing for the restoration of ocean life to the surrounding areas. The Diver can also grab onto some large sea creatures for traversal, helping them get through areas they wouldn't be able to reach otherwise.
8 Beyond Blue
Similar to ocean exploration games of the past like Endless Ocean and Blue World, Beyond Blue if from E-Line Media, the same developers behind Never Alone, is an ocean exploration game with more educational value than others. Mirai, the player, researches ocean life with her team, but the game, unfortunately, has less variety than some of its contemporaries.
Beyond Blue was developed in conjunction with BBC, as it was heavily inspired by the BBC documentary Blue Planet II and ocean research experts. Beyond Blue is also a brief experience, not even reaching three hours of average playtime for most players, so it's best for those who prefer shorter games.
7 Sushi Striker: Way Of The Sushido
An often overlooked Nintendo Switch and 3DS title, Sushi Striker: Way Of The Sushido is a matching game where the player battles their opponents on a conveyor belt filled to the brim with sushi, where each competitor has to match sushi of the same color, and the more sushi they match, the higher their score. Each competitor also has a health bar that decreases as their opponent throws empty plates at them.
Competitors can also equip themselves with Sushi Sprites, mysterious and collectible creatures that grant their partner specific bonuses. Sushi Sprites gain new and more powerful forms over time, but unlike Pokemon or Digimon, their names don't change.
6 Sakuna Of Rice And Ruin
A 2.5D hack-and-slash game, Sakuna of Rice and Ruin features the titular character, a goddess named Princess Sakuna, who is being punished for her arrogance by being given the task of clearing an island of demons and helping the human outcasts who live there.
Sakuna of Rice and Ruin isn't only an action game but also a rice farming simulator. Sakuna must properly cultivate and harvest rice through several mini-games to give her stats a permanent boost. The humans Sakuna befriends can also grow rice for her, although the quality may be lackluster compared to if Sakuna does it herself.
5 Moonlighter
A top-down Zelda-inspired rogue-lite-style game, Moonlighter has players exploring dungeons to fight enemies and bosses as a way to obtain products they can then sell at the shop they run. The money they make can also help them improve their town by adding services that help make dungeon exploration and shop management easier.
While the base game only has four dungeons, Moonlighter's rogue-lite elements help increase its replayability, and most of the items obtained by the player while in the dungeon are lost if they're defeated, meaning they'll have to try again if they want to get their potential stock back.
4 Battle Chef Brigade
Developed by Trinket Studios, Battle Chef Brigade combines a side-scrolling action game and a puzzle game, combining hunting and cooking gameplay into a solid gameplay loop. As one of two competing characters, players must hunt various monsters and then use their obtained ingredients to create dishes by matching to correct ingredients together and cooking them correctly.
Matching the correct colors increases the quality of the dish being made, increasing their rank and making it more likely for the judges to give a higher score. While not the shortest experience, Battle Chef Brigade isn't quite as meaty as it could be, so some may be dissatisfied there isn't more content after completing the base game.
3 Yakuza: Like A Dragon
The seventh mainline entry in the Yakuza series, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, features Ichiban Kasuga as the protagonist rather than Kazuma Kiryu, and with that comes a massive gameplay change. Battles in Yakuza: Like A Dragon are turn-based rather than action-based, as when Ichiban fights, he sees everything in what he calls "Dragon Quest terms."
Of course, even with the gameplay change, Yakuza: Like A Dragon still features all the other aspects the series is known for, including over-the-top attacks, plenty of sidequests, and various mini-games, including business management, to enjoy. Like previous entries, Yakuza: Like A Dragon also features older Sega games, like Virtua Fighter 5, as playable games in the arcades.
2 Ecco The Dolphin: Defender Of The Future
Initially launched for the Sega Dreamcast in 2000, with a PlayStation 2 version launching two years later, Ecco The Dolphin: Defender Of The Future is the Ecco The Dolphin series' first and only foray into 3D, serving as both a reboot of the series and its final installment.
While Defender Of The Future primarily features the titular sea creature exploring the ocean and fighting against shark enemies, because this series likes to have a sci-fi slant to it, Ecco is also trying to prevent an alien invasion of Earth by beings called the Foe who seek revenge after previously being thwarted by the combined efforts of dolphins and humans.
1 Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits
The first game in the Ace Angler series to receive a North American release, Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits is a Nintendo Switch-exclusive title based on the Ace Angler arcade game that takes place in an aquarium-themed amusement park featuring a variety of attractions players can enjoy by themselves or with friends.
Each attraction the player experiences rewards them with medals they can then use to collect and learn about over 250 aquatic creatures and improve their aquarium. Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits also features a single-player story mode and an online competitive multiplayer mode, so players can choose whichever play method they prefer.