Venba

Venba is a tale about an Indian immigrant family in Canada that does most of its storytelling through cooking and leaves you wanting seconds.

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

Through a exploration of Southern Indian cuisine and the preparation of it that's been given a slight puzzler twist, Venba manages to serve up a captivating story about culture, motherhood, immigrant life and more, spiced up with likeable characters and great dialogue, and topped off with eye-catching visuals and an ear-pleasing soundtrack. It's a short feast, but a filling one, so it would be wise to give it a shot. Would it help if we said that it might remind you of a rocket somehow?

Venba tells a beautifully intimate and reflective narrative about the nuanced experience of being a first generation immigrant. Its vibrant art-style and rhythmic Carnatic music come together to celebrate the cuisine of Tamils.

Food and family converge in this beautiful slice-of-life tale.

Our time with Venba and her family may have been short, but we quickly came to care for each of them as we watched them struggle through life. This is a beautiful portrait of a couple and their son who feel just as real as you or I. It’s a celebration of being Indian, of being human, of being a parent, of culture, of food. It reminds us of the importance of family and tradition – and the joy that eating (and preparing) a good meal can bring even in the darkest of times. Brief as it may be, Venba has left a lasting impact – and it’s made us desperate to try some traditional Tamil cooking of our...

A short, cooking puzzle game that doubles as a touching visual novel about a mother, her family, and the immigrant experience.

While slightly too short for its own good, Venba is an exciting cooking narrative game exploring Tamil food. It tells an important, yet heart-wrenching story of a family as they struggle to fit in a new country.

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

Venba may not be the longest game out there, but this charming narrative cooking game sure is a treat. Venba will tag you along on a family's journey as they struggle with life in a new country, but at the heart of it all is the cooking.

Food acts as a portal to another culture that transcends language barriers. You don’t have to be fluent in Farsi to eat fesenjān or speak Spanish to enjoy paella. Venba is a cooking-based puzzle game that uses food as a means of giving players a peek into the specific experience of emigrating from India to Canada in the 1980s. It’s not a perspective many have, but even though it can lack depth and be a little too on the nose, Venba uses the multifaceted power of food to serve players a helping of humanity.

Though I genuinely loved my time with Venba, I could not swallow the steep asking price for the short, one-hour experience that you will have. It's a great, tear-jerking story that immigrants will resonate with, but there isn't enough here to justify the entry fee.