Dave the Diver Into the Jungle DLC: How Long to Beat and How to Start

DAVE THE DIVER finally has its biggest expansion yet, and the question on every player's mind is the same: how much content are you actually getting for $9.99? The short answer is a lot. Into the Jungle is the largest post-launch addition to the game by a wide margin, bringing a new lake ecosystem, a fresh restaurant to run, 33 villagers to befriend, and a story that rivals the base game in scope. Here is everything you need to know before you dive in.

How do you start Into the Jungle?

The entry requirements for Into the Jungle changed before launch, specifically because the community pushed back on the original plan. Initially, players would have needed to finish the entire base game story before accessing the DLC. That restriction is gone.

You can now start Into the Jungle from scratch, with no base game save file required. Purchase the DLC ($9.99) on your platform of choice, download it, and launch the game. The title menu will prompt you that the content is installed and ready. From there, you have two paths:

• No save file: Select the DLC directly from the title screen. You will be placed on the boat with Cobra and the opening quest, "Friends," will begin almost immediately when Dr. Bacon arrives.
• Existing save file: If your base game progress reaches the main story epilogue, Dr. Bacon will approach your boat naturally. If he does not appear, try diving and returning to the surface to trigger the event.

Into the Jungle is available on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, and iOS.

DLC launch prompt on title screen

How long does Into the Jungle take to beat?

This depends entirely on how much of the content you want to see.

Main story only

Playing through all 7 chapters plus the prologue and epilogue takes roughly 12 to 15 hours for most players. The expansion has no difficulty settings, so your time will shift based on how much you explore between story beats and how often you stop to run the restaurant.

Main story plus side content

Once you factor in the village side quests, optional objectives from the 33 Utara residents, and the mini-games scattered throughout, expect to land somewhere around 18 to 20 hours. That puts Into the Jungle close to the base game's main campaign, which runs around 25 to 30 hours for most players.

Full completion

Getting to 100% is a different commitment. After 25 hours of play, there are still collectibles, fish species, and side missions left unfinished. Between two major dive regions each packed with dozens of aquatic species, the Stag Beetle fighting mini-game, optional bosses, and maxing out relationships with all 33 villagers to level 5, a true completionist run can push well past 30 hours.

Chapter progress in Into the Jungle

What are all the story missions in Into the Jungle?

The main campaign contains 7 chapters broken into 27 individual missions, with a prologue and epilogue framing the whole thing. Some missions can be tackled out of order once you reach the village, especially when multiple residents are making requests simultaneously.

1. Let's Head To The Jungle!
2. Welcome To The Jungle!
3. Jungle Chef
4. Muna's Research
5. The Old House
6. A New Home
7. The Legend In The Mural
8. Bancho's Cooking Tools
9. The Carpenter's Request
10. Ancients' Diving Gear
11. The Path To The Forest
12. Back To Shooting
13. To Setah Forest
14. Find The Puppy
15. To Murau Temple
16. Into The Temple Depths
17. Retrieve The Diving Equipment
18. Into The Depths Of The Lake
19. The Cause Of The Strange Phenomenon
20. Back To The Temple
21. Find The Blue Divine Tree Fruit!
22. Return To The Village
23. Another Sea People Tribe
24. Opening The Sea People Settlement
25. The Tyrant Xiphactinus
26. Muna's Bomb Preparation
27. Bomb's Away

Villager requests in Utara Village

What else is packed into the DLC?

The story missions are only part of the picture. Into the Jungle adds two full dive regions, each with several dozen new fish and aquatic creatures to catch. The all new fish species across both Utara Lake zones represent a significant chunk of the completionist grind.

Bancho Grill replaces Bancho Sushi as the restaurant you manage during the DLC. It operates on the same loop as the base game, with different rank tiers to achieve and VIP guests requiring specific ingredients. Building relationships with villagers also unlocks them as restaurant guests. For a full breakdown of what you will be cooking, the complete new recipe list for Into the Jungle covers every dish from default menu items to Artisan Flame unlocks and VIP specials.

Villager relationships go up to 5 levels across all 33 residents of Utara Village. Knowing what each person wants speeds the process up considerably, and the guide to every villager's favorite gifts and dishes is the fastest way to avoid wasting ingredients on the wrong people.

Beyond that, there are insects to collect, a Stag Beetle fighting activity built around rock-paper-scissors mechanics, optional bosses, and a new combat system the story introduces later in the campaign.

Bancho Grill restaurant management

Is Into the Jungle worth it?

At $9.99, you are getting content that comfortably rivals smaller standalone games in length. The main story alone delivers 12 to 15 hours, and the side content doubles or triples that figure depending on how deep you go. The Metacritic score sits at 87, and the OpenCritic data shows 100% of critics recommending it, which is about as clean a signal as you can get for a DLC at this price point.

For anyone who enjoyed the base game's rhythm of diving, cooking, and building relationships, Into the Jungle does not reinvent that loop so much as expand it with a completely new setting and enough new systems to keep things fresh for dozens of hours. Browse the full Dave the Diver strategy guides collection to get the most out of every hour you put in.