How Port of Jumanah Keeps Players Engaged

How Port of Jumanah Keeps Players Engaged

Port of Jumanah is a colorful 2.5D action-adventure game that combines fast combat, roguelite progression, underwater exploration, treasure hunting, humorous characters, and a world inspired by the Arabian Gulf. Developed by Red Dunes Games and Agate, the game puts players in the role of Mansour, a young man who becomes involved in an unexpected journey that takes him beneath the waves and into a strange world filled with unusual creatures and dangerous challenges.

The game takes the familiar idea of pearl diving and turns it into something much more adventurous and chaotic. Instead of simply searching the ocean for valuable pearls, players dive into dangerous waters, fight bizarre sea creatures, discover treasures, recruit unusual companions, improve their equipment, and eventually work toward restoring their port.

What Is Port of Jumanah?

Port of Jumanah is a 2.5D action-adventure game with roguelite elements. The game combines side-scrolling exploration and action with a progression system that allows players to improve their equipment and abilities as they complete missions.

Players control Mansour as he explores different ocean environments. During these journeys, they can encounter treasures, enemies, strange creatures, allies, and unexpected situations.

The game’s underwater setting gives it a different identity from traditional fantasy action games. Instead of exploring castles or forests, players travel through oceans inspired by the Arabian Gulf, encountering colorful marine environments and unusual aquatic enemies.

Game Information

  • Title: Port of Jumanah
  • Developer: Red Dunes Games, Agate
  • Publisher: Red Dunes Games
  • Release Date: September 7, 2026
  • Genre: Action, Adventure, Roguelite
  • Game Mode: Single-player
  • Perspective: 2.5D / Side-scrolling action
  • Platform: PC, PlayStation 5
  • Setting: Arabian Gulf-inspired underwater world

Story Overview

The story follows Mansour, a young man who finds himself caught up in a series of unfortunate events that eventually send him on a world-saving journey. What begins as an unusual adventure develops into a much larger mission involving the sea, strange creatures, mysterious locations, and the restoration of a struggling port.

The world of Port of Jumanah takes inspiration from the history and atmosphere of the Arabian Gulf, but it presents that setting through a colorful and surreal fantasy style.

Instead of trying to create a completely serious historical experience, the game mixes maritime inspiration with comedy and bizarre encounters. Players can meet strange creatures and questionable allies while exploring environments that feel both familiar and fantastical.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Port of Jumanah revolves around action-packed underwater adventures. Players leave their port and descend into different ocean environments where they must fight enemies, discover treasures, and complete missions.

The game combines melee-style attacks with tools such as a harpoon, creating opportunities for different combat approaches. Players can experiment with equipment and power-ups to find a style that works best for them.

Because Port of Jumanah contains roguelite elements, individual journeys can provide different challenges and opportunities. Players are encouraged to continue improving their equipment and abilities so they can handle increasingly difficult encounters.

Underwater Exploration

How Port of Jumanah Keeps Players Engaged

Exploration is a major part of the experience. The game takes players across multiple ocean environments, with different areas containing their own creatures, challenges, and visual themes.

The underwater setting gives exploration a distinctive feel. Instead of simply walking through a traditional landscape, players have to deal with currents, aquatic creatures, underwater hazards, and environments filled with unusual discoveries.

Treasure hunting is another important part of exploration. Players can search different areas for valuable items while dealing with whatever happens to be hiding beneath the surface.

The ocean is therefore both the game’s main setting and one of its biggest gameplay challenges.

Combat

Combat is one of the most important elements of Port of Jumanah. Players can hack, slash, and use harpoons against a variety of unusual aquatic enemies.

The game’s colorful art style makes the enemies look less frightening than traditional monsters, but they can still create serious challenges during a run.

Players need to understand enemy movement, avoid attacks, and choose the right weapon or ability for each situation.

The developers also emphasize experimenting with combat styles. Some players may prefer using brute-force attacks, while others may favor more precise attacks with ranged tools such as the harpoon. Soul Chained

Roguelite Progression

The roguelite structure gives Port of Jumanah its replayability. Missions and expeditions provide rewards that can be used to improve the player’s equipment and abilities.

Instead of completing one linear sequence and finishing the game, players repeatedly return to the adventure with better tools and greater capabilities.

This progression system creates a satisfying gameplay loop. Completing one mission makes it possible to upgrade your kit, and the upgraded equipment then helps you tackle more difficult missions.

The developers describe this progression as moving from “zero” toward increasingly powerful equipment and abilities.

Weapons and Abilities

Weapons are an important part of the player’s progression. As players complete missions and collect rewards, they can unlock new equipment and abilities that change how they approach combat.

The ability to experiment with different combat styles gives players some freedom in deciding how they want to play.

A player who enjoys close-range combat can focus on direct attacks, while someone who prefers keeping enemies at a distance can use tools such as the harpoon.

This variety helps prevent the combat from becoming repetitive and gives players reasons to continue experimenting.

Crew and Companions

How Port of Jumanah Keeps Players Engaged

One of the game’s more unusual features is the ability to recruit companions to join the player’s vessel. These characters can accompany Mansour during his journeys and provide assistance along the way.

The game does not take the recruitment system completely seriously. The developers describe the potential companions as questionable allies whose usefulness has to be discovered through experience rather than through formal applications or resumes.

There is even a cat that players can recruit.

These companions add personality to the adventure and make the player’s vessel feel more like a crew rather than simply a vehicle for moving between missions.

The Cat

The inclusion of a cat is one of the game’s most entertaining details. The developers specifically highlight the cat as one of the recruitable companions.

While the exact usefulness of each companion depends on the gameplay system, the idea fits perfectly with Port of Jumanah’s humorous personality.

The game is clearly comfortable mixing serious adventure objectives with ridiculous situations, and having a cat as part of the crew is a good example of that approach.

Port Restoration

Returning to the port is an important part of the overall progression. The player’s adventures are not only about fighting monsters and collecting treasure; they also contribute to rebuilding and improving the port.

This gives the player’s actions a larger purpose.

Instead of completing missions simply to increase a number on a character sheet, players can feel that their successful expeditions are helping restore a place that has fallen into difficulty.

Port development also fits naturally with the game’s maritime theme because the port acts as the player’s central home and starting point for future voyages.

My Personal Experience

The most interesting thing about Port of Jumanah is its combination of an Arabian Gulf-inspired setting with colorful roguelite action.

The concept of pearl diving is transformed into something much larger. Instead of calmly searching for pearls, the player dives into dangerous waters, fights strange creatures, collects treasures, and returns to improve their equipment.

The companion system also adds personality to the adventure. Recruiting questionable allies and even bringing a cat onto the vessel makes the journey feel less predictable.

The game seems particularly suited to players who enjoy action games but also want something with a lighter and more humorous tone.

Ocean Environments

How Port of Jumanah Keeps Players Engaged

Port of Jumanah features multiple ocean environments, each with different visual characteristics and unique species.

This variety helps keep exploration interesting because players are not simply repeating the same underwater area.

Different environments can also introduce new enemies and challenges, requiring players to adjust their approach as they progress.

The ocean becomes a collection of different adventures rather than a single repetitive location.

Graphics and Visual Style

The game uses a colorful 2.5D visual style that combines detailed environments with charming character and creature designs. Steam describes the game with tags including cute, colorful, 2.5D, underwater, comedy, and story-rich.

This visual style matches the game’s humorous tone extremely well.

Instead of making the ocean look dark and frightening all the time, the game uses bright colors and unusual designs to create an adventurous fantasy world.

The aquatic creatures also benefit from this approach because enemies can look strange and funny rather than simply terrifying.

Is Port of Jumanah Multiplayer?

No. Port of Jumanah is primarily a single-player game. Steam lists the game as single-player rather than an online multiplayer or co-op title.

However, the game does include recruitable companions who can join the player’s vessel and help during journeys. This provides some of the feeling of having a crew even though the actual experience is designed for one player.

For players who prefer focused single-player adventures, this structure allows the story and progression to remain centered on Mansour.

Platform Availability

Port of Jumanah is available on PC and PlayStation 5. The PC version is available through Steam, while the game has also been announced for PS5.

The Steam version supports controller input, and the developers have previously recommended playing the demo with a gamepad/controller.

The game also supports multiple interface and subtitle languages, including English, Indonesian, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, French, German, Arabic, and Russian.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Port of Jumanah has a distinctive setting that separates it from many other action-adventure games. Its Arabian Gulf-inspired underwater world provides a fresh foundation for exploration and storytelling.

The roguelite progression system also gives players reasons to continue playing after completing individual missions. Upgrading equipment and unlocking abilities creates a satisfying sense of improvement.

The colorful 2.5D art style is another major strength. It works especially well with the game’s humorous tone and unusual aquatic enemies.

Cons

Players looking specifically for multiplayer or co-op gameplay may be disappointed because the game is designed as a single-player experience.

The roguelite structure may also not appeal to players who prefer completely linear adventures with permanent progression.

Latest Update and Current Status

How Port of Jumanah Keeps Players Engaged

Port of Jumanah launched on September 7, 2026, following its demo and earlier promotional events. The developers used feedback from the demo period to improve the experience, including adding new content such as a boss, equipment, and oxygen-related features during the Steam Ocean Fest demo update.

The final release is available for PC and PS5, while the game’s Steam page lists its single-player features and supported languages.

Final Verdict

Port of Jumanah is a refreshing action-adventure game that takes underwater exploration and combines it with roguelite progression, fast combat, treasure hunting, companions, and a strong sense of humor.

Its Arabian Gulf-inspired setting gives the game an identity that separates it from more generic fantasy adventures. The colorful environments and unusual aquatic creatures make the world feel playful, while the combat provides enough action to keep expeditions exciting.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *