Venba Review (Steam) – A Recipe for Success (Available on Game Pass)
Venba is one of the best cosy games I have spent time with this year, and even better, I sat down and experienced it all in one sitting.
Reviewed on Steam | Available on: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
It follows the lives of an Indian couple who leave their home and move to Canada, in hopes of a better future. They find it hard to adjust, to find work, and friends, with language, culture and even religion being blockers in a much more Western world.
The couple are thinking of going back home to India, but the woman falls pregnant, and as good parent’s must do, they sacrifice a slice of their lives and happiness for that of their son.
The game takes us from the birth of the baby, to the end of his college days. It is told with simple narrative, coupled with figuring out traditional Tamil recipes passed down generation to generation.
Some of the recipes have been messed on or ripped up a bit, and you have to solve a couple puzzles to get the dish right. The dishes are always made at pivotal points in the story, and so it brings right to the front of mind how important food is, the memories it can bring to the surface, and the important place in family and culture it holds.
I played the game from start to finish in just short of 2 hours on stream. It had my chat talking about childhood memories, getting angry at the way the son treated his parents, and sad at situations they faced, that we have all faced as well. It was really so wonderful, not only to experience on my own, but with people who were also getting the same emotions from the game as I was.
It proved to me that the narrative was incredibly well written and strong.
Venba is a great, short, cosy game to add to your collection. While I wouldn’t be able to rate it as very replayable, it was so worth the one play-through, and still has me thinking about it afterwards.
Verdict: ✪✪✪✪ (Great)
✪ Poor (0-5) ✪✪ Mediocre (6-7) ✪✪✪ Good (8) ✪✪✪✪ Great (9) ✪✪✪✪✪ Must-play! (10)
