If you’re looking for a cozy, incremental indie game that combines gentle exploration with business mechanics, Shelldiver developed by the indie gamedev Gagonfe might be just the breath of fresh ocean air you need. This game launched on Steam on November 16, 2025.
In Shelldiver, you play as a senior turtle who goes diving into the depths to catch jellyfish, sell them in your little shop, and upgrade your gear to dive deeper, explore new biomes, and support your turtle village.
Let’s follow us at Indie Games Tavern to dive in this indie game review of Shelldiver, we’ll cover its core loop, strengths, weaknesses, and whether it’s a good pick for indie games fans.
Gameplay & Core Loop
At its heart, Shelldiver is an incremental arcade adventure–influenced game with exploration and resource-collection mechanics blended in. Key gameplay features:
- Jellyfish Catching: Using a bubble gun, your turtle chases and captures various types of jellyfish—from electric ones to mutant varieties that explode. Jellyfish are your main currency/resource.
- Selling & Shop Management: After catching, you return to your turtle shop to sell what you’ve collected, building up capital to invest in upgrades.
- Resource Scavenging: Beyond jellyfish, you can salvage human trash, crystals, mushrooms, and other exotic ocean-floor materials to upgrade your submarine, tools, and shop.
- Skill Tree & Progression: There is a large, branching skill tree that lets you improve your oxygen tank, shop-size, submarine, or other expedition-relevant skills.
- Biome Exploration: The ocean is not homogeneous: you’ll dive into different biomes—from volcanic waters to crystalline caverns—to find more jellyfish types and rare resources.
- Survival/Resource Management: You need to keep an eye on your oxygen supply, so diving deeper comes with risk.
So the loop is: dive out → catch jellyfish & scrap → return → sell → upgrade → repeat and explore deeper/different areas.
To us at Indie Games Tavern, the indie gamedev Gagonfe really did a great job here, they blend some good mechanics to made a short and sweet $4 indie game which has around 4hrs of fun playing time. We can’t ask for more!
What Works Really Well
1. Cozy, Relaxing Vibes
Shelldiver nails a calm, laid-back feel. The premise of a senior turtle slowly building a jellyfish business is charming and low-stress. The incremental design means progress feels steady and rewarding without punishing players heavily.
2. Unique Resource Concept
Jellyfish as a currency/resource is a clever and thematic choice. It’s not just about gold or generic items—it feels very “turtly.” The variety of jellyfish types adds flavor and gives real incentive for repeated dives.
3. Exploration + Variety
The inclusion of different biomes for diving adds a sense of progression and adventure. Knowing there are “deeper” or more exotic biomes to unlock encourages investment in upgrades and exploration.
4. Deep Customization via Skill Tree
The branching skill tree gives players meaningful choices: do you upgrade your oxygen tank for deeper dives, or improve your shop’s capacity to sell more jellyfish? This kind of choice elevates the incremental gameplay loop.
5. Strong Indie Execution & Accessibility
According to Steambase, Shelldiver supports full controller input, achievements, Steam Cloud, and is playable on relatively modest hardware. For an indie game, those are solid features.
6. Active Indie Community
The developer is engaging with the community. On Reddit, the dev announced the release, and players are excited:
“Played the demo during Next Fest and had a really enjoyable time. Excited for the full game.”
Such community engagement is a big plus for indie-game fans. To us at Indie Games Tavern, there’s not much indie gamedev really put serious attention to this part, and we have to tell you that’s a big issue why their game was not viral.
Areas for Improvement & Potential Drawbacks
1. Risk of Repetition
As with many incremental games, there’s a risk that the loop can become repetitive over time: diving → selling → upgrading → diving again. Whether long-term engagement holds depends on how many jellyfish types, biomes, and upgrade paths there are.
2. Onboarding Clarity
Some players in Reddit threads mention waiting for “unloading jellyfish” or sale steps feels slow or unnecessary. Balancing idle mechanics (waiting) with active gameplay will be important.
3. Depth vs Accessibility Tradeoff
The game wants to be both cozy and somewhat involved (with a large skill tree and exploration). Striking the balance so that it’s not too shallow for players who like “build-up” but not too complex for casual players is tricky.
4. Technical Polishing
While the game is built in GameMaker (per SteamDB), as with any small-team indie game, there may be bugs or UI roughness at launch. A few recent builds from SteamDB suggest active development, but this is something to watch early on.
5. Scalability of Content
Whether the shop mechanics, dive biomes, and skill-tree provide enough content to keep players engaged beyond the first dozen hours will be key for longevity.
Final Thoughts
Gather all of what we wrote in this indie game review above, Shelldiver is a delightful addition to the world of indie games, especially for players who love incremental mechanics wrapped in a relaxing, exploratory, and thematically charming package. The concept of a turtle, jellyfish, submarine dives and resource trading feels fresh yet accessible.
If you enjoy idle/incremental games but want a little more “dive into the world” than “click to earn”, Shelldiver is well worth its place on your Steam wishlist.
To us at Indie Games Tavern, if you’re ready to take a slow dive, catch some glowing jellyfish, upgrade your turtle’s gear, and build a jellyfish-selling business beneath the waves — Shelldiver might just be your next favorite cozy indie adventure.
Who Should Play It?
- Players who like cozy, incremental indie games without high stress.
- Fans of exploration and “business simulation lite” mechanics.
- Gamers who enjoy upgrading gears and unlocking new areas in a gradual, peaceful way.
- Indie games fans who want to support indie gamedev who really put a lot of effort to make a good indie game, of course.
Who Might Wait or Skip?
- Players who expect very high-intensity survival or action.
- Of course, gamers looking for ultra-deep economic simulation or fully open-world freeform play.
Shelldiver Review by Indie Games Tavern.
Your cozy corner of indie gems. We’re more than just a indie game review channel, we’re a sanctuary for the unsung heroes of indie gamedev. Born from a love of the underdog, the quirky, and the downright brilliant, the Indie Games Tavern is your trusty guildhall for discovering the finest indie games—those hidden gems, wild experiments, and heartfelt labors that big studios often overlook. Picture this: a weathered oak table laden with scrolls—each a indie game review penned by your tavern scribes, folks like me who’ve braved the pixelated wilds to bring you tales of triumph, terror, and everything in between.
Indie Games Tavern 
Leave a comment