Dave the Diver Review (cleverlie)
I’m a game developer and I’m overwhelmed with how toxic the industry has become in the last 10 years due to greed and venture capital. Games have transformed from actual toys to play and have fun to machines for juicing and parasiting on users’ addictions and cravings.
In that context of our society, Dave The Diver is an amazing relief and gives me back my inner child passion to get back to making videogames that really are fun to play, to make an art form with love, to make content just for the sake of telling a good interactive story, to give a nice moment to people.
This game is a 10/10. It never stops giving you new content and new core mechanics even in the late game. The game has lots of minigames to solve, and when you thought you’ve seen and perfected all the core mechanics, suddenly a new map, town, or challenge is unlocked with completely new mechanics to learn and master. It doesn’t recycle too much, it doesn’t take the easy path, its development demonstrates what is really possible when you make something with love and real effort and not just for an easy cash grab.
I want more games like this. I want to make games like this. Not a single lootbox in sight. Not a single child becoming a gambler as an adult.