The Most Important Thing for an Underwater Game

However, good underwater games can’t rely solely on beautiful landscapes and enigmatic settings. The best games should also feature an intriguing story, a fun adventure, or challenging mechanics. 

What’s more, an underwater game should care about is its physics. Since you are swimming and not just walking and practically all the movements in underwater levels are different, a title must be careful to reproduce it with fidelity, and this is only one of the various factors. Now, it is time for us to see the top underwater games already launched!

Song of the Deep

• Release Date: July 12, 2016
• Developer: Insomniac Games
• Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC
• Metascore: 71 (PC), 69 (PS4), 66 (Xone)

The game we begin with has a heartwarming yet very challenging story and gameplay. But apart from that, Song of the Deep also presents us with an engaging and non-linear development in the old Metroidvania style. The graphics are also very charming.

In the game, you are a young girl that builds a submarine to go on a mission to find her missing dad, who disappeared after a fishing trip. As you visit places and search for some of the most incredible secrets of the sea, you will have to solve puzzles, face enemies, upgrade the submarine’s systems, and navigate through some dangers.

Key Features

• Two-dimensional Metroidvania style.
• Upgrade-based gameplay, with the need for improvements to go further in the exploration.
• Exploration and puzzle-solving-focused gameplay.

Aquanaut’s Holiday

• Release Date: June 30, 1995
• Developer: Artdink
• Platforms: Playstation
• Metascore: -

Now, we take the space to talk about an old and really weird game released for PS1 in 1995: Aquanaut’s Holiday. The game was developed by Artdink, a Japanese company used to create strange games that go totally against trending ideas, which explains a lot. 

You are a marine explorer on vacation time. So what do you do in the game? Well, swim deep in the seas, why not? No enemies, narrative, mysteries, stories, or other objectives. Just a human in a submarine adventure.

You can start documenting the things you find, or you can build a coral reef. That is totally up to you. It's your vacation time, so enjoy it your way. Surely a gaming experience different from everything you have ever played, so just go with the flow.

Key Features

• Very easygoing gaming experience.
• A vast ocean to explore.
• Lots of wildlife to see.

Aquaria

• Release Date: December 7, 2007
• Developer: Bit Blot
• Platforms: PC
• Metascore: 82

The third of the underwater titles is Aquaria. Here you play as a creature close to a mermaid that swims through different habitats of the endless ocean. It may not be one of the most hyped games you will encounter, but it brings an enjoyable sea experience.

The two-sided scroll game is recommended for people of all ages and has some special features, like different scenarios to explore, items to find, and forms to unlock. You will also encounter some puzzles to solve. Take a deep breath and say goodbye to the surface, as you’ll spend all the time of your adventure exploring underwater.

Key Features

• Different scenarios to explore, from ancient ruins to sunlit oases.
• Three different forms: Nature, Energy, and Beast, with different abilities.
• Plenty of other animals and plants that can be friendly, nocive, and neutral to you.

Depth Hunter 2: Deep Dive

Different from some titles on the list, Depth Hunter 2: Deep Dive focuses on hunting fish and other species of marine life. As you enter the oceans, the game encourages you to hunt as you swim, but you will also find many objectives and things to do deep in the ocean. 

The game has excellent graphics and its atmosphere distinguishes itself from the majority of the other video games, making you feel like you are really there under the seas. The game also has its own currency, so you can sell all the fish and any other form of life you get down in the ocean.

Key Features

• The stunning atmosphere and vibrant ocean world around you.
• Plenty of different sea life forms for you to hunt.
• Exploration possibilities letting you go swimming and have fun without getting any fish.

ABZU

• Release Date: August 2, 2016
• Developer: Giant Squid Studios 
• Platforms: PC, PS4, Xone, Nintendo Switch
• Metascore: 83 (Xone and PC), 80 (Switch), 78 (PS4)

It’s hard to say why a game you play as a nameless diver is so incredible. There is something special about the environment down there in the sea that will make you spend hours and hours diving and going with the sea flow.

You explore many different ocean scenarios, seeing its story develop and complete itself in small cut scenes. You can just admire the environment and find your own adventures instead of going for the objective to see a linear story evolve to something completely different. Abzu also has a special and colorful artwork, which is already convincing enough to play it. The perfect place for you to find joy.

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Key Features

• An abundance of plants and animal life to interact with.
• Ruins, ancient technologies, and collectible treasures to discover.
• Amazing artwork and atmosphere full of wonders to see.

Feed and Grow Fish

• Release Date: January 8, 2016
• Developer: Old B1ood
• Platforms: PC
• Metascore: TBD

This title brings a traditional game concept to 3D well-developed environments. In Feed and Grow Fish, you start as a tiny fish or sea creature and must eat smaller life forms in a growth journey until you become the most badass creature in the water. Simple but totally addictive and easy to spend hours.

You will find your place in the food chain in a game that doesn’t need inspiration to be good. The game brings many different organisms for you to eat and different maps filled with things to savor. Feed and Grow Fish is still in early access, and there is no multiplayer yet. That said, the possibility to play online and multiplayer services are very likely to come to the game, as the possibility to fight and eat friends will make the journey even better. 

Key Features

• Several different types of fish to play.
• Different types of fauna to discover.
• A very simple yet addictive gameplay.

Bioshock II

• Release Date: February 9, 2010
• Developer: 2K Games
• Platforms: PC, PS3, X360
• Metascore: 88 (PC, PS3, and X360)

Now we get to the franchise that best works with underwater settings. If the first Bioshock is loved and gamers unanimously consider it amazing, its sequel is also highly respected. This time, you control Big Daddy and will see the city of Rapture from a different perspective than you did in the first game.

The dark corners of this city are places you will learn what fear is, even with your mutated body. You will face addicted mutants while advancing on your submarine adventures, so you can expect a hard time literally from the very beginning.

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Key Features

• Exciting first-person shooter experience.
• A New point of view, now from the Big Daddies.
• A wide variety of weapons, upgrade possibilities, “plasmid” and “tonics” to use.

SOMA

• Release Date: September 2022, 2015
• Developer: Frictional Games
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One 
• Metascore: 84 (PC), 82 (Xone), 79 (PS4).

If most of the games on the list were relaxing, now we will dive into different waters. SOMA is a horror survival that brings us to a distant future, taking place in an underwater facility.

Playing as Simon, you will fend off malevolent machines, searching for clues to understand what is happening and escape the place controlled by this evil computer to ultimately survive. It is a surprising, impressive, and completely addictive narrative that will take you off your comfort zone as you try to break the mystery. So take the kids out of the room.

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Key Features

• Safe mode for those who want to avoid monsters and jump scares.
• A physiological horror-driven story that never gives you the safety sensation.
• An exploration-rewarding game where you defeat “evil” when you uncover its mystery.

Subnautica

• Release Date: January 23, 2018
• Developer: Unknown Worlds Entertainment
• Platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
• Metascore: 87 (PC), 81 (Xone), 80 (PS4)

Exploring the oceans of our planet is already hard. Now imagine having to do so after crashing on an unknown planet, with an unknown ocean and a totally different alien wildlife. You’ll be forced to fight scary creatures while gathering resources to ensure your own survival. Subnautica is not only a great underwater title but also one of the hardest survival games you will find out there.

As with any survival game, you must pay attention to things such as hunger, thirst, and oxygen. You can also interact with this unique marine life as you swim through the depths of this underwater adventure. You will have to do missions and other things to advance the plot. Subnautica has different difficulty levels for you to choose from. On the hardest one, for instance, your save is automatically deleted after dying.

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Key Features

• Four different difficulty levels, going from creative to hardcore mode.
• Two explorable islands and an entire open-world ocean to dive into.
• Unique marine life for players to interact with or fight against.

Bioshock

• Release Date: August 21, 2007
• Developer: 2K Games
• Platforms: PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360
• Metascore: 96 (Pc and X360), 94 (PS3)

Getting to the end of the list, here’s Bioshock. The first game of the Bioshock series is also the best of them and can easily be called the best underwater game ever released. 

You play Jack Wynand, who discovers the underwater city of Rapture. Lost in the middle of the endless ocean, he will face mechanical creatures like Big Daddy and genetic creatures such as Little Sister. The game has elements of psychological horror that are just incredible.

One of the best things about Bioshock is that it brings an open world worthy of the best RPG games. There are many things to discover and places to explore the past of Rupture City. All the dialogs, combat, and story development will make you dive deeper and deeper into the game. 

You can search through the entire ocean for games like Bioshock I; just mind your oxygen levels, as you will take a lot of time underwater, swimming in the depths.

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Key Features

• First person shooter mixed with stealth RPG and exploration gameplay.
• Plenty of weapons and plasmids for players to find and use.
• Creative and immersive combat allows traps and combos.