Venba
83
CriticDB
Rating

Venba

Venba is a narrative cooking game, where you play as an Indian mom, who immigrates to Canada with her family in the 1980s. Players will cook various dishes and restore lost recipes, hold branching con... See more

Released:2023-07-31
Genre:
Puzzle, Simulator, Adventure, Indie, Visual Novel
Platforms:
PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Developer:Visai Games
Publisher:
Visai Games

Official Trailer

Venba Trailer
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Reviews

Professional reviews from gaming critics

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GamesRadar

Hirun Cryer

Venba is a must-play experience, an enthralling tale of immigrants across multiple generations, all backed by a brilliantly absorbing puzzle game in the form of cooking.

Jul 31, 2023 Read Full Review
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TechRaptor

Tanushri Shah

9/10

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

Jul 31, 2023 Read Full Review
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Digital Trends

Giovanni Colantonio

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

Jul 31, 2023 Read Full Review
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Hardcore Gamer

Kyle LeClair

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 wis...

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Playstation Universe

Christian Harrison

8.5/10

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.

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GameLuster

Shaz Mohsin

8/10

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.

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Eurogamer

Emad Ahmed

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

Jul 31, 2023 Read Full Review
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GameSpew

Kim Snaith

8/10

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 ...

Jul 31, 2023 Read Full Review
Unscored

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

Jul 31, 2023 Read Full Review
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But Why Tho

Katherine Kong

80/10

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

Jul 31, 2023 Read Full Review
7/10

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...

Jul 31, 2023 Read Full Review
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GameGrin

Violet Plata

7/10

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.

Nov 27, 2023 Read Full Review