Venba is a narrative video game that follows an Indian Thamil family that has migrated to Canada, and through gameplay challenges the player to recreate the recipes of various traditional foods of Thamil culture.
In the age of social media and food delivery apps, it is sometimes hard to find time to explore cooking and culture, let alone to encourage the interest in others. However, the video game Venba does both by immersing the player in the daily life and struggles of a Thamil immigrant family and how their relationships with each other are developed through their understanding of traditional cuisine.
While a video game about cooking might seem boring, the storyline of Venba is anything but. The story arc covers about twenty-five years of the family’s life, starting in 1988, and explores recipes for everything from idlis to biriyani. A young couple who travel from Chennai, India, to Toronto, Canada, in hopes of a better life, Venba and her husband Paavalan struggle to adapt to a culture completely different from the one they grew up in, as well as an environment that is not always friendly to foreigners. Matters are complicated by the birth of their son, Kavin, who does not have the same cultural references, and longs to acclimate to Western customs.
However, Venba strives to bring the family together through a love of traditional Thamil food, with varying levels of success. To do so, Venba tries to restore recipes handed down by her own mother, and the player must participate in discovering the correct way to make the dishes. The player also can direct the conversation of characters at certain points, helping to explore the dissension between different generations of an immigrant family.
The cooking sequences are well developed and will leave the player with a yearning to try the recipes in real life. The storyline is one which can be explored by both older and younger generations, deftly mixing light-hearted family banter with the stress of adapting to unfamiliar surroundings. While the story arc covers a quarter of a century, the actual length of the game is not protracted, and does not require a major commitment to complete. The art and animation is colorful and attractive, holding the interest of the viewer.
Although dishes vary from India to Sri Lanka, there are many recipes which are ubiquitous throughout Thamil culture, and Venba proves to be a great introduction to Thamil fare. There are also references to Thamil lifestyle and language which Sri Lankan Thamils will definitely find familiar.
Venba was released in 2023, on multiple platforms. The game can be played on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, or Windows (purchased from Steam). For those who are curious but have no interest in playing video games, there are several playthrough videos available to watch on Youtube, both with and without commentary.
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