Venba Reviews
Venba is a beautiful cooking game that emphasizes the meaning of family, culture, and tradition. It's a game that will hit home for many who had to make the difficult choice of moving away from home, and one where you might shed a tear at the end.
Venba is a tale about an Indian immigrant family in Canada that does most of its storytelling through cooking and leaves you wanting seconds.
There's more to this narrative and this family that deserves to be included in the experience, and while the cooking segments definitely sing, I'm ultimately left feeling like I've been served an appetizer rather than a main course. It's beautiful in its colorful but minimalistic presentation and has a fitting musical score. I'm just longing to spend more time in Venba's charming kitchen and to be invited to share in more of the moments in her life.
Venba delivers an elegantly nuanced story about cultural identity through sharply written dialogue and meaningful cooking interludes.
Venba beautifully depicts the struggle of the first-generation immigrant experience — fighting to give your family better opportunities while holding true to your roots. It’s a golden example of how games can give players an authentic peek into underrepresented cultures when the right people are in charge. With the game being beatable in a sleek two hours, it’s impossible not to give Venba an incredibly high recommendation.
Food and family converge in this beautiful slice-of-life tale.
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.
Venba is an incredibly heartfelt, yet short, experience that offers glimpses into a family's life, culture, and delicious-looking meals.
A short, cooking puzzle game that doubles as a touching visual novel about a mother, her family, and the immigrant experience.
Venba’s portrayal of the complex diasporic family dynamic is spot-on. It’s a perfect portrait of the challenges and wistfulness that come with trying to live a life while being torn between two completely different cultures.
Venba is a heartfelt tale of an immigrant mother doing her best to raise a son in Canada while passing on her Tamil culture. It's a story not often told, and it will stick with you long after the credits roll. Learning about this culture is a ton of fun and done through inventive puzzles having you cook traditional dishes. It's a gorgeous, passionate game that gives you a glimpse into another culture.
As the end credits appeared on our screen it felt like we'd been on a generational journey — one that was both happy and sad, disappointing and hopeful, and above all, sincerely moving. We had a tear in our eye and everything. Four days later, writing this review and thinking about our experience playing Venba, we're smiling, and considering going back for a second helping.
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 an interesting and thoughtful experience that lasts as it should and that, in about a couple of hours, is able to make you feel attached to its characters and themes.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Venba is a poem whose verses we interpret and feel in different ways. It is a sincere story about the life of a family, with its ups and downs, but there is harmony in its tragedy, humanized by the bond between Venba and Paavalan - the chapters often end with the couple lying down at the end of the day, discussing their problems and doubts - and by the conflict faced by Kavin as a child of immigrants.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
"Venba perfectly melds together a story of generational anxieties and dreams"
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.
I would have loved more Venba, with its vibrant sound, touching story, and mouthwatering food, and yet, I still feel like Visai Games has told a complete, focused story.
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 is a lovely little narrative game about the struggle of raising a child as immigrants told via food, but it'll be over too quickly for some.