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Bancho the Chef Expands The Dave the Diver Universe Through Cooking And Travel
Mintrocket has officially unveiled Bancho the Chef at the latest State of Play showcase, a new standalone prequel set years before the events of Dave the Diver. The game follows Bancho during his younger years, before he becomes the master sushi chef players meet at the Blue Hole.
Rather than sending players back underwater, Bancho the Chef takes the series in a different direction, blending cooking simulation, light RPG progression, restaurant management, and story-driven travel across Asia.
Dave the Diver became memorable partly because it kept mixing genres without losing its warmth, and Bancho has long stood out as one of its most recognisable characters. Giving him a dedicated origin story lets the studio expand the world without simply repeating Dave’s diving-and-restaurant routine.
Bancho Travels Across Asia To Learn Regional Cuisine
Bancho the Chef follows Bancho as he travels to locations inspired by Japan, Korea, China, and other Asian regions, learning from master chefs and building his reputation through his cooking.
In each region, players will work in restaurants, learn new recipes, serve customers, fulfil local requests, and earn approval from culinary masters before moving forward. Rather than treating food as a simple menu system, the game appears to place the act of cooking itself at the centre of play.
Cooking Simulation Meets RPG Progression
Mintrocket describes Bancho the Chef as a mix of cooking simulation, RPG, and adventure, with character growth tied to learning ingredients, mastering dishes, serving customers, and completing challenges.
Players will need to manage orders under time pressure, plan cooking sequences carefully, and use ingredients gathered through regional activities. The game also includes mini-games and events that help unlock new dishes, while the broader feature set includes side activities such as fishing and VIP missions.
Mintrocket’s strength has been in making different systems feel playful rather than overwhelming, and Bancho the Chef looks like another attempt to build a cosy loop out of many smaller moving parts.
A More Tactile Cooking Game On PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 version is also leaning into DualSense features. Mintrocket says haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, the controller speaker, gyro controls, and the touchpad are being used to make cooking actions feel more physical.
Examples include slicing fish, cracking eggs, and scrubbing plates, with the studio trying to give each action a stronger sense of texture. It is a small detail, but one that fits the game’s wider pitch. Bancho the Chef wants cooking to feel hands-on, not just menu-driven. Visually, the game also moves away from Dave the Diver’s pixel art approach to 3D, allowing Mintrocket to emphasise dish textures, oil splatter, smoke, and finer food-presentation details.
Bancho the Chef is currently confirmed for PC and PlayStation 5, with Steam and PlayStation Store wishlists now available. A release date has not been announced.
