Food is a part of any culture. What people eat, how they cook, and how they share their recipes is something that can be unique between cultures, and even between families within a culture. From the moment I saw a trailer for Venba at a Wholesome Games showcase, I knew I had to give it a try. Over the course of its short runtime, between 1-2 hours depending on how relaxed you are in playing it, Venba tells a story of how food can bring generations together, and how food can be a powerful tool to connect with family.

Venba is a short cooking game with visual novel elements where you experience a small piece of the life of an immigrant mother (the titular Venba) and her family. Each chapter of the game concerns preparing a recipe (or several) at a certain point in Venba’s life. Each recipe has a personal connection for Venba to her husband, son, or family back home.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=fM6qjSc-G2w%3Frel%3D0

You can play Venba with a mouse and keyboard, or with a controller. I used a controller but it probably wouldn’t be difficult with a mouse and keyboard. I would call Venba a puzzle game somewhat because as you cook the recipes, you will have to figure out how to execute the recipes based on diagrams or partial recipes. Some of Venba’s mother’s recipes were lost (or partially lost) so Venba must piece them together as best she can.

As someone with no experience with Indian cuisine myself, I found this to be a bit of a challenge. However, what I found absolutely delightful was how much detail the development team put into every aspect of the cooking process. The sounds were recorded to make sure they were authentic, and the art style is beautifully done. Additionally, Indian music was picked from each decade so that the music playing in Venba’s kitchen is authentic.

I come from a Southern American family, with a mix of Cajun and general Southern cuisine. As such, I know very well how powerful food can be to connect to your loved ones. I also know (in a limited capacity) how people may look down their noses at food that may seem foreign to them. These themes also are highlighted over the course of Venba’s runtime, as Kavin (Venba’s son) is raised by Venba and her husband in Canada, far from their traditional Indian upbringing.

With that upbringing came pressure from Canadian society and people who might have found Kavin’s cultural foods strange. Part of the story is a lesson on treating others who are different with respect and connecting with other cultures. I find that after playing Venba, I want to learn all I can about Indian cuisine. It looks delicious, and it even has some similarities to foods I’m familiar with, even if they are vastly different as well.

Overall, Venba really left a strong impression on me. I think taking the time to appreciate our loved ones and the foods that they cook (or the foods they love) is important. I also think that it is vital to learn to appreciate other cultures, especially through food. They say that you can learn a lot about someone by breaking bread with them. Perhaps if we shared a meal with people and broadened our horizons a bit more…life might not seem so scary sometimes.

A PC review copy of Venba was provided by Visai Games for this review.

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Venba

$14.99

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Wonderful Story and Message
• Interesting Authentic Music
• Authentic Cultural Dishes to Cook
• Beautiful Art Style

Cons

• I wish it had Been Longer