Venba

Very short, but very touching game! Absolutely steeped through with Tamil culture, the music and the food and everything! I almost felt like I could smell the food, it was so vividly depicted! I love how the cooking mechanic complexity scaled to the confidence of the chef: making something for the first time is a lot more trial and error, while making 6 things you know by heart for a feast, you can't mess up. Fantastic example of ludonarrative! And it comes with recipes!!!! I got it on sale, and since it was so short, I think I would've been disappointed otherwise. But, it did leave a good taste in my mouth, haha!

This is a beautiful game. The story is touching and the gameplay is simple and engaging. Absolutely would recommend

Beautiful ilustrations, music and the drawn details

brb gonna cry and hug my immigrant Canadian mother 😭😭😭😭

Touching and sweet game. It warmed my heart and made me cry a little. It's so vibrant and made me reaaally hungry xD It felt special from start to finish, a very personal story. I'm glad I gave it a try.

非全成就 1.6 小时通关，比起做饭，里面的剧情更吸引人，而且bgm也很有特点，就是，难以置信1.6小时我哭了两次（原谅我泪点太低了🫠） 原价购买那我觉得有点亏，但是1元入手的CDKEY还有什么好说的，冲就完了

After beating Venba, my immediate thought was: this game isn’t just a video game—it’s basically a beautiful, heartfelt essay. It tells a tender story about family bonds in a foreign country, cultural identity, and the messy clashes between two vastly different worlds. The whole story revolves around an old cookbook left by the grandmother. This little book ties together three generations of the family, and through food—the true taste of home—it guides Venba and her son Kavin through their own growth and struggles. Rooted in real life, the story follows a Tamil immigrant family building a life in Canada. Venba’s husband Paavalan faced brutal racial discrimination back then. He could never land a proper job, had to give up his dream of being a writer, and swallowed his pride over and over again just to send out resumes and make ends meet. Venba also had her own battles: the loneliness of being far away from home, plus her son Kavin’s teenage rebellion. She could never fully understand why Kavin willingly changed his authentic Tamil name to the Western, de-culturalized “Kevin” just to fit in with classmates. It broke her to see him being mocked as a “Curry Kid” by others, and it hurt even more when Kavin pushed away all connections to his Indian roots. Still, the family never gave up. They held fast to the reason they traveled across the ocean to Canada—the simple, pure wish every parent has: to give their kid a better future. Crushed by countless hardships, Venba never broke down. Instead, she poured all her love and hopes into homemade traditional dishes. The old cookbook taught Venba to be resilient and forgiving, and helped Kavin learn understanding and courage. Short as it is—you can finish it in about an hour—Venba captures the entire journey of so many immigrants: the confusion, the insecurity, and finally peace with who they are. Behind this fictional story lie countless real-life immigrant experiences, perfectly wrapping up the core theme of loving someone and knowing when to let go. For gameplay: this short, story-focused game is perfect for narrative lovers. It has warm, textured cozy art, plus an immersive soundtrack. Even if you’re not a fan of traditional Indian music, the tunes here feel surprisingly refreshing and lovely. The cooking segments are super fun! You have to piece together broken recipes and figure out how to cook each dish yourself. That said, interactive gameplay is pretty minimal overall—this game is all about sinking into the story and emotions.