Dave The Diveris being dubbed as one of the best indie games of 2023 so far by many. The video game follows the hectic, yet adventurous life ofDave, who works as a deep sea diver by dayand sushi restaurant worker by night. Though his inability to refuse requests caused him to leave his vacation early, the game lets players into Dave’s journey as he grows with his friends.
Dave The Diverdirector Jaeho Hwang talks through the studio’s “trial-and-error” journey for making their first-ever single-player game for Steam, analyzes what players might resonate the most with Dave, and looks ahead for future possibilities.The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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Q: For our readers, please tell us a bit about yourself and Dave the Diver.
Hwang:My name is Jaeho Hwang. I am the director of the game Dave the Diver. It’s nice to meet you!
Q: Let’s talk about the main character and star of the game, Dave. How would you describe him?
Hwang:Dave is a laid-back and friendly type. He’s the kind of friend you’ll find anywhere, a bit lazy, but also an optimistic guy at the same time. He has a hard time refusing requests from people, so when someone asks him for a favor, he can’t help but give a helping hand. But his greatest strength is that he has a strong work ethic, so once he commits to something he gets to it and doesn’t complain.
Q: Is there anything about Dave that you think has resonated the most with players?
Hwang:The game deals with Dave’s journey of personal growth and his friendships along the way. At first, he’s just a happy-go-lucky diver who lives a slow and peaceful life. But his colleagues start to need his help here and there, and as he takes on larger and more complex issues to solve, he grows a stronger sense of responsibility within himself. I think it is this process of Dave’s journey and growth with his friends that is something people can easily relate to.
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Q: The tone of the game is very humorous and light-hearted (especially its cutscenes). How did MINTROCKET settle on this approach? What do you think it adds to the title?
Hwang:Games that take place in the sea often give off a very earnest and even poetic vibe. Since our game usespixel art, we tried a slightly different approach. The sea is a mysterious and sometimes even terrifying place, and I wanted to utilize the unique quirkiness of pixel art to create a world that conveyed the sense of “fun and adventure.”
Q: Is there a specific reason why the depths Dave explores are called the “Blue Hole”?
Hwang:I once saw a documentary about this place called a ‘blue hole,’ which was a deep hole in the sea that had its own ecosystem. There were even rumors that there wereundiscovered creatures living in this blue hole, so basically everything about it was fascinating. I thought this would be perfect to use as material for a game. This also worked out well for us because the size of our development team is relatively small. So instead of creating a vast open ocean area, this more confined space was advantageous for our purposes in designing a game.
Q: The game is mixed with adventure, RPG, and management elements. What came first and how were these features all adopted throughout development?
Hwang:The first time the idea came to me was when I came across a Japanese pub near the sea where the fish were caught in the morning and then served in the evening. I realized I wanted to create a game that mixed management with adventure. It started out in a simpler form as a more casual game, but as it developed, more and more RPG elements were added. And since the characters were so likable, I naturally wanted to develop their stories even further.
Q: Has there been any specific praise or feedback on these features you have that has felt impactful? Or that you are taking into consideration for an upcoming patch or just as a lesson learned?
Hwang:Dave the Diver has little elements in it that older gamers appreciate. There was one middle-aged user on Steam who wrote that he had lost interest in games as he got older, but he discovered Dave the Diver, which started to bring back his fond memories ofplaying games when he was younger. He said it had been a long time since he had so much fun playing games, and this is something that really stuck with me.
Of course, it hasn’t been all praise. We did receive a lot of criticism about key binding, something we hadn’t sufficiently taken into account at first, so we added this in during the Early Access period. There was also an event that forcesDave out of the water that we added in Early Access, but it didn’t really land with users, so we changed the structure and cut it down a bit.
Q: Dave the Diver has sold and been reviewed incredibly well. How did this reception compare to expectations at MINTROCKET?
Hwang:This is something I can honestly say I didn’t see coming. Although we made a lot ofrefinements during Early Access, I admit that there were still areas that were lacking. I am really grateful that the new story content and missions that we added after EA were so well received. We are fortunate enough to have received a lot of encouragement along with suggestions for improvements. We continue to listen as suggestions come in, so we can make a more polished game and add additional content.
Q: What do you think is the ‘secret’ to Dave the Diver’s success?
Hwang:First, I believe the secret to Dave the Diver’s success lies in the development team’s steadfast belief in a highly unique approach, combining genres in a completely distinctive way from existing games, and continuously sprinkling innovative elements like unique spices. Their dedication and hard work is what made all the difference. And secondly, I believe that it’s thanks to all the sincere advice that we received from the community during the Early Access period. The current positive feedback is no doubt a result of the high amount of polishing efforts made during EA. I learn a lot on a daily basis through communication with users on Discord, and thanks to user feedback we continue to incorporate aspects that the development team hadn’t considered.
Q: I know it’s hard to say a month in, but how has its reception impacted any plans for Dave the Diver’s future?
Hwang:Since we currently don’t have any plans to expand the development team, there shouldn’t be any significant changes to our development schedule moving forward. For now, we are focused on QoL improvements and bug fixes based on user feedback. After that, we do plan to add some new content. Given the positive response we have been receiving, we also might consider some form of collaboration or crossovers. It would be really cool to see Dave the Diver show up in other fun games!
Q: A Switch version of Dave the Diver is currently slated for later this year. Is there anything regarding this platform release you can share?
Hwang:Currently, we are fully focused on optimization. Since we had been primarily focusing on PC development, there were some areas where the performance on the Switch suffered from lag. Right now, we are actively addressing these issues to ensurea smoother gameplay experience. We are also considering enhancing the UI for better compatibility with gamepads and incorporating features like vibration feedback. As far as what will happen further down the road, we will reveal that at a later time, so we look forward to receiving another interview then!
Q: Is there anything we didn’t talk about that you’d like to mention?
Hwang:It has been a long journey of trial and error for our team as this is our first time developing asingle-player gamefor Steam. Throughout this process, we have suffered numerous setbacks and failures, but we never gave up. We kept refining the game throughout this process, and this eventually could lead to the complete game that we have today. The immense love and support that we have received keep us going every day, and we hope to showcase even more of Dave’s untold stories in the future. Thank you so much!
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