DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain ▶ Trailer
DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain screenshot 1DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain screenshot 2
ActionAdventureIndieUnderwaterLovecraftianExplorationHorrorAction-Adventure

33 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 78

Peak in the last 7 days: 99

DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain Steam store

Game description

Every descent is a deadly gamble. DIVE or DIE in the cursed abyss, face Eldritch horrors to uncover the mystery of the black rain. Scavenge and upgrade, recruit and sacrifice. Save your camp... The Flood is coming.

Basic info

DeveloperDrop Rate Studio
PublisherDear Villagers
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateJul 21, 2026
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10
ProcessorIntel Core i5 6500 / AMD FX 8350
Memory8 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA GTX960 / Radeon R9 380
Storage8 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 456 reviews from the past 1 year

83.5/ 100
Top 40%

Steam rating: Very Positive (92%)

Metacritic: 78 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 15, 2026)

An immersive cosmic horror atmosphere wins 146 reviews of DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain, though few hints frustrate some; it scores 83.5.

👍 Strengths

Story & World appears in 64% of analyzed reviews and ranks 176th of 1096. 146 reviews praise an immersive atmosphere, some calling it Lovecraftian, and the most upvoted likes how character sanity feeds the cosmic horror. 116 love the thrill of exploring unknown depths, and 37 admire the artwork and setting. Others find the difficulty challenging but fair, rewarding knowledge and experiments. Visuals & Sound ranks 410th of 1249, and Gameplay ranks 618th of 1396.

👎 Where it falls short

55 reviews say high difficulty with few hints makes progress frustrating. 50 find enemy types repetitive and late threats reskinned. 33 say progress demands experimentation and map knowledge without clear guidance. Others see little new over the demo, and some say fixed map layouts leave no replay value. Content Volume ranks 940th of 1351, and Pricing & Fairness ranks 648th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“immersive Lovecraftian atmosphere with character sanity and cosmic horror” · 146 reviews
“thrill and fun of exploring unknown depths is excellent” · 116 reviews
“Beautiful artwork and engaging setting” · 37 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 65% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Difficulty +1.07 · How hard it is, how the challenge ramps, and whether it feels fair
Positive “challenging but fair difficulty that rewards knowledge and experimentation” · 21 reviews
Negative “high difficulty with few hints makes progression frustrating” · 55 reviews

Progression 27% · Onboarding 20% · Freedom 15% · Strategy 18% · Controls & feel 8%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 64% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.90 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “immersive Lovecraftian atmosphere with character sanity and cosmic horror” · 146 reviews
Negative “blessed regions destroy horror atmosphere that made game compelling” · 4 reviews

Story 18% · Characters 1%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 39% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Variety -1.97 · Fresh content and situations versus repetition
Negative “Repetitive enemy types and reskinned late-game threats” · 50 reviews
Positive “multiple dive spots and progression unlock new areas and mechanics” · 2 reviews

Volume 21% · Replayability 17%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 27% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.47 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “Beautiful artwork and engaging setting” · 37 reviews
Negative “static art and visuals show budget constraints” · 1 review

Audio 16%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 1% of reviews mention this.

Community +4.00 · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly

Playing together 0% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 12% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.17 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “cultist playstyle heavily overpowered, no downsides” · 10 reviews
Positive “very good and well balanced game” · 1 review

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 5% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 10% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.09 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “locker inventory bug freezes game” · 15 reviews
Positive “completely smooth playthrough with zero bugs or technical issues” · 1 review

Performance 1% · Developer support 5%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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