Venba

Venba is an interesting, thought-provoking, and emotional tale that is worth checking out. The cooking gameplay and the engaging narrative, matched up with the eye-catching and colourful South Indian cuisine-inspired colour palette make for an experience that is well worth the 1-2 hours it will take to complete it.

Venba is a particular gaming experience, able to give voice to Tamil culture and, at the same time, to transmit a universal message. If you have had the luck to have a grandmother who has left you her notebook of recipes, at the end of the game you will run to take it in tears. Venba goes beyond the often rather narrow boundaries of the videogame medium, fully realizing the requests of those who would like space for more intimate and personal stories, also able to trace paths in places, cultures and themes usually not beaten.

Venba delivers an elegantly nuanced story about cultural identity through sharply written dialogue and meaningful cooking interludes.

Venba is a love letter to many things, not just food. It beautifully depicts the story of two immigrants and their struggle to keep their culture alive in a Western society that does not seem to understand or appreciate it. Venba brings together incredible art, sound, narrative, and gameplay that is magnificently entrenched in Tamil customs, leaving the player with not only a deeper understanding but also a deeper respect for this underrepresented culture.

All in all, I really enjoyed playing Venba. I just wish it was a bit longer. Saying this, I was pleased with what I was offered. Venba isn't like other cooking games I have played. If you make a mistake, you have to start again, but you don't feel frustrated or embarrassed. I also liked the puzzle element thrown into the cooking gameplay. The story of Venba and her family helped me to be further engaged in the game. I also enjoyed learning about Indian culture and cuisine, and loved how the story explored keeping hold of the cultures of your homeland while in a new country.

Venba is a short, impactful, and beautifully presented look into the lives of an immigrant family that'll likely stay with you for a long time.

Venba is a sweet, short-lived episode that presents the place held by food and cooking within our lives and cultures as near-on divine. It explores familiar relationships, as well as the ones we keep, for better or worse, with food itself, and left me with plenty to ponder as the credits rolled.

Venba is so good that it leaves you wanting more. Even if I could have my wish and the game could be twice as long, I suspect even that wouldn’t be enough for me. Visai Games offers such small, delightful slices of these family members’ lives, and I just wish I could get to know more about them and their culture during the game.

Venba is a delectable slice of a game that offers a subtly moving story that ought to appeal to Tamil people, first-generation immigrants and their children, and wider audiences alike. It’s also a fantastic cooking game, capturing the sights, sounds, joys, and challenges of preparing food like few games before it. A short runtime may leave you hungry for more, but that’s largely a testament to the quality of the meal.

Venba speaks on social issues people can face when placed in a society that feels adverse to acceptance and understanding.

Venba is a truly wonderful game, and executes what it sets out to do wonderfully. The art is gorgeous, the music is excellent, and the storytelling is somehow both broad in what it manages to elucidate about the South Asian immigrant experience while deep in the family dynamics it portrays. The cooking gameplay does eventually get a little stale towards the end as it attempts to include more recipes with less detail, and quite honestly, it’s more of a visual novel that touches on cooking than an actual cooking game. That said, I still found myself sniffling and wiping tears away by the end. It’s a sincere, full-throated love letter to Tamil culture and first-generation immigrants everywhere, and in that sense it is unique and singular in its ambition. I loved Venba, and have already recommended it to my Indian friends. I can only hope that it reaches far beyond that audience.

In Venba’s short play time, the narrative-led cooking game conveys so much of this family’s experience. The stirring story is presented in snackable chapters, each with an emotional tale tied to a dish. The puzzles aren’t too challenging, making for a comforting, cosy playthrough as you prepare each meal. Be warned though: this game will make you hungry. And it may also make you cry.