I watched the trailer once and my lunch order changed on instinct. You can tell when a game is about to shove your routine into a blender. I packed a save file and a bad habit for trying everything.
I’m talking about In The Jungle, the big new DLC for Dave the Diver, which finally has a date: June 18. It promises roughly 10 hours of new gameplay, a fresh village, new characters, and the same oddball culinary sense that made the base game a hit.
Morning stalls hum to life at Utara — a village that keeps time with the sun
You arrive and the clock actually moves. Utara isn’t a static hub; day and night cycle in real time, which changes how quests and NPC schedules feel on your second playthrough. I like that: it makes small choices matter. Talk to a vendor at noon and you’ll find different gossip than you would at dusk. That opens social loops where relationships grow across visits rather than through a single menu screen.
There are new locals with sidequests that let you build rapport. The village includes a new restaurant fronted by Bancho, who’s evolved from the old 2D Bancho Sushi into something with a meatier layout and more player-facing systems. Expect conversational beats and service chores to interact with the rest of your progress.
Fishermen swap tales at the lake — the Blue Hole is now a huge freshwater basin
The ocean set-piece gives way to a sprawling lake filled with species the team clearly researched. Mintrocket appears to have leaned on natural history, so expect realistic fish behavior mixed with the game’s weird culinary imagination. The lake is a living map; you’ll hunt specific fauna, learn seasonal spawns, and face environmental quirks that change how you approach each run.
The aquatic life here should feed both your curiosity and your menu. Bancho’s Grill serves a freshwater-focused selection, and the restaurant gameplay is more complex than before: plating, seating, and timing feel like a puzzle that rewards experimentation. Bancho’s menu is a culinary roulette wheel. Play it and you may be delighted — or firmly advised to keep a fire extinguisher on hand.
When does the In The Jungle DLC release?
June 18 is the date to mark. I’d clear an evening that week if you care about uninterrupted exploring and menu-testing. The DLC adds around 10 hours of content, enough to change how you approach the main game without asking for a second mortgage.
Which platforms will get the DLC and where should you buy it?
The base game launched in 2023 and is available on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, macOS, and Windows PC via stores like Steam and possibly GOG. Mintrocket handled the original release, and most platform storefronts that carried the full game should carry the DLC on June 18.
I’ve spent time with the original and respect how Mintrocket balances cozy management with arcade moments. The new village routine and freshwater mechanics feel designed to stretch what the base game taught you without breaking the core loop. Utara is a pocket-sized rainforest terrarium that wants to be explored at your own pace.
If you’re the kind of player who hoards save files and tries suspicious menu options: this release is a small, promising risk. Will Bancho finally serve something that actually scares you — and will you taste it anyway?