Venba (video game)

Last updated

Venba
Venba-steam-header.jpg
Developer(s) Visai Games
Publisher(s) Visai Games
Producer(s) Shahrin Khan
Designer(s) Abhi
Programmer(s)
  • Abhi
  • Tatsuya Morita-Ahad
Artist(s)
  • Sam Elkana
  • Rae Minos
  • Danik Tomyn
Writer(s)
  • Abhi
  • Shahrin Khan
Composer(s) Alpha Something
Engine Unity [1]
Platform(s)
ReleaseJuly 31, 2023
Genre(s)
Mode(s) Single-player

Venba is a narrative cooking video game developed and published by Visai Games. The story begins in 1988 and follows an immigrant Indian couple settling down in Canada and adjusting their day-to-day lives in the new environment. [2] The player controls the titular character, Venba, an Indian woman who moves with her husband to Toronto, where they eventually have a son. The game draws heavily from Tamil culture and South Indian cuisine. The game was released on July 31, 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Contents

Gameplay

Screenshot from Venba Official Screenshot of Venba.webp
Screenshot from Venba

The core gameplay involves Venba's journey of restoring lost recipes through trial and error. [3] In each chapter, Venba and her son, Kavin, explore their familial relationships through food, which plays out in puzzles. [4] Venba's mother's cookbook has been damaged over time, leading to smudged instructions that make the recipes difficult to follow. [5] The player consults the cookbook to recreate the recipes, as Venba contemplates her own memories to help piece together any missing instructions. They will encounter these obstacles throughout the game when making different dishes and must investigate surrounding instructions and diagrams to fill in the gaps. This obstacle starts off with one or two lines from the recipe missing, to later on becoming an entire page with only diagrams to work with and no legible instructions to tackle cooking the meal properly. [6]

Apart from the cooking mechanics, the player picks dialogue options in conversations with other characters. There is replayability in making different dialogue choices or going back to create past dishes without making mistakes. [6]

Plot

The story follows Venba and her husband Paavalan, who leave Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state, to begin a new life in Toronto, Canada. [7] The couple struggles with the new language, culture and a lack of job prospects, but hope that their newborn son has an easier time than them. As Kavin grows up, Venba aims to instil an appreciation for Tamil language and culture in him, but she faces difficulties as Kavin quickly assimilates to Canadian culture. Each short chapter is a vignette encapsulating a year in Venba’s life. [8]

Development and release

Lead developer Abhijeeth Swaminathan Abhi Swami, GDC 2024 (20240329 D2 KT2 1723) (cropped).jpg
Lead developer Abhijeeth Swaminathan

In an interview with Eurogamer , lead developer Abhi explained that most media relating to immigrant stories focuses on second-generation children, rather than their parents, but it's the parents who have "a cooler story to tell, because they up and leave their country at the age of 40 or 50, and they move to a brand new place." [9] Venba is told from the perspective of the mother, showcasing how cooking becomes a way for her to keep in touch with her roots.

Visai Games has spoken about the challenge of making a cooking game that is interesting to players who are familiar with the South Indian recipes, while ensuring the game is not too difficult for those who are unfamiliar. [10] Because the game introduces players to Tamil cuisine, the developers aimed to ensure the recipes are authentic and representative of the culture. Initially, the developers struggled to design comprehensive puzzles out of the recipes, as Abhi explains: "[South Asian] recipes are usually quite long and complicated and while it was technically possible to make puzzles out of them, it didn't make for very fun gameplay." After extensive research, the developers found that some recipes had puzzles built into them already, and they simply needed to be properly contextualized. [5] The fragmented recipe book mechanic showcases the game's narrative through its gameplay mechanics, in an effort to allow players to feel what it's like to want to express one's own culture from their roots and familial bonds, but not being able to completely translate it in challenging environments. [6]

The developers have spoken about the pivotal role sound design played in ensuring players understood the sounds of southern Indian food, explaining that “capturing the recipes accurately was important to us, and so was making the players feel like they were stepping inside Tamil kitchen." [11] Venba sound designer Neha Patel both cooked the meals and recorded sounds each step of the way, in an effort to capture the most authentic Foley. Beyond Foley for cooking, Abhi has described the lengths the team went to to create the essential background of Tamil cooking, specifically the music on the radio. He recalled his own experiences in his family kitchen with radio or the TV often playing in the background. Visai Games added an in-game radio with a soundtrack scored alongside each narrative era, all tied to the sounds of Tamil cinema from the aligned decade. [11]

The game was released on July 31, 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. [12] It was initially planned for spring that year. [13]

Soundtrack

Venba's soundtrack is inspired by several decades of Tamil film music, bringing together a variety of genres and homages to popular composers, in an effort to accentuate the nostalgia and cultural palette of the game. [11] The Tamil lyrics were written with the intention to take the listener on a journey through the evolution of Tamil music, using pop-culture references and poetic storytelling to mark each era. Venba features a track, entitled "Chellakutty", performed by famed Indian film composer, Deva. [11] The soundtrack was released for digital purchase on July 21, 2023 on Bandcamp and additionally made available for purchase as downloadable content on Steam, alongside the game.

Reception

Venba received generally favorable reviews from critics upon release, according to review aggregator Metacritic. [14] [15] [16] [17]

GameSpot 's Veerender Singh Jubbal praised the game's soundtrack, cooking mechanics, and its execution of themes and story, noted that "having South Asian developers, all with different experiences, means Venba is a narrative cooking adventure about an immigrant mother's life that feels authentic." [6] Destructoid writer CJ Andriessen praised Venba's exploration of Tamil culture and cuisine, but criticized its short length, writing that "the food is lovely to look at, as is the rest of the game, but it's all so brief." [18] Nicole Carpenter of Polygon had praise for the game's length, writing that "that sort of pacing is a huge feat for a game like Venba, which packs decades of story into just over an hour. It would have been easy for the story to feel partial or rushed, but the cooking segments really help in slowing down even the most intense moments, letting me linger and feel before moving on." [7]

Awards and nominations

Venba won the Social Impact Award at the 24th Game Developers Choice Awards. Game Developers Choice Awards 2024 - Venba (cropped).jpg
Venba won the Social Impact Award at the 24th Game Developers Choice Awards.
YearCeremonyCategoryResultRef.
2023 The Game Awards 2023 Best Debut Indie GameNominated [25]
Games for ImpactNominated
2024 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game Nominated [26] [27]
Outstanding Achievement in Story Nominated
24th Game Developers Choice Awards Best AudioNominated [28] [24]
Best DebutWon
Best NarrativeNominated
Social Impact AwardWon
Audience AwardNominated
Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally Grand Prize Won [29] [30]
Excellence in AudioNominated
Excellence in NarrativeNominated
Excellence in Visual ArtNominated
20th British Academy Games Awards Debut Game Won [31] [32]
Game Beyond Entertainment Nominated

Related Research Articles

Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Independent Games Festival</span> Annual video games festival

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, and innovation in video game development by CMP Media, later known as UBM Technology Group, IGF is now owned by Informa after UBM's acquisition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dosa (food)</span> Thin crepe originating from South India

A dosa is a thin, savoury crepe in South Indian cuisine made from a fermented batter of ground white gram and rice. Dosas are served hot, often with chutney and sambar. Dosas are popular in South Asia as well as around the world.

<i>Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas</i> 2004 video game

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh title in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, the game follows Carl "CJ" Johnson, who returns home after his mother's murder and finds his old gang has lost much of their territory. Over the course of the game, he attempts to re-establish the gang, clashes with corrupt authorities and powerful criminals, and gradually unravels the truth behind his mother's murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sambar (dish)</span> Lentil stew

Sambar is a lentil-based vegetable stew, cooked with pigeon pea and tamarind broth. It is originated from South Indian cuisine and now popular in large parts of India and beyond. The stew is similar to an other Burmese cuisine dish used as a popular accompaniment to Burmese curries. It has also been introduced into the culinary habits of Sri Lanka since the 20th century, among many other elements of South Indian cookery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deva (composer)</span> Indian film composer and singer

Devanesan Chokkalingam, also known as Deva, is a south Indian film composer and singer who predominantly works in Tamil Cinema. He has composed songs and provided background music for Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam films in a career spanning about 36 years. He has composed music for more than 400 films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">505 Games</span> Italian video game publisher

505 Games S.p.A. is an Italian video game publisher based in Milan. It was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Milan-based Digital Bros.

<i>Portal</i> (video game) 2007 video game

Portal is a 2007 puzzle-platform game developed and published by Valve. It was released in a bundle, The Orange Box, for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and has been since ported to other systems, including Mac OS X, Linux, Android, and Nintendo Switch.

<i>Braid</i> (video game) 2008 puzzle platform video game

Braid is an indie puzzle-platform video game developed by Number None. The game was originally released in August 2008 for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. Ports were developed and released for Microsoft Windows in April 2009, Mac OS X in May 2009, PlayStation 3 in November 2009, and Linux in December 2010. Jonathan Blow designed the game as a personal critique of contemporary trends in video game development. He self-funded the three-year project, working with webcomic artist David Hellman to develop the artwork.

<i>Pasanga 2</i> 2015 Indian film

Pasanga 2 : Haiku is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language children's film written, co produced and directed by Pandiraj. A thematic sequel to Pasanga (2009), the film focuses on the issue of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) amongst children and is set in the city, unlike Pasanga. The film, starring debutante child actors Nishesh and Vaishnavi in lead alongside Ramdoss, Vidya Pradeep, Karthik Kumar and Bindu Madhavi. This film is produced by Suriya, who also appears in a supporting character along with Amala Paul. The film will mark Pandiraj's last of the trilogy for children, following Pasanga and Marina.

<i>Stardew Valley</i> 2016 video game

Stardew Valley is a 2016 farm life sim video game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as Stardew Valley. The game was released for Windows in February 2016, before being ported to other platforms. Stardew Valley is open-ended, allowing players to grow crops, raise livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, and socialize with the townspeople, including the ability to marry and have children. It allows up to eight players to play online together.

<i>Hue</i> (video game) 2016 adventure puzzle game

Hue is a 2016 puzzle-platform game developed by Fiddlesticks and published by Curve Digital. The game was released on August 30, 2016, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One; on November 29, 2016, for the PlayStation Vita; and on June 6, 2019, for Nintendo Switch. There were further releases for iOS on January 25, 2020 and Android on April 22, 2020.

<i>Overcooked 2</i> 2018 video game

Overcooked 2 is a cooperative cooking simulation video game developed by Team17 alongside Ghost Town Games, and published by Team17. The sequel to Overcooked!, it was released for Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on August 7, 2018. The game was released for Amazon Luna on October 20, 2020. Overcooked: All You Can Eat, a compilation game that includes both Overcooked and Overcooked 2, was released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 12, 2020. The compilation came to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on March 23, 2021, and on Google Stadia on May 5, 2022.

<i>Starfield</i> (video game) 2023 video game

Starfield is a 2023 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. In the game, the player character joins a group of space explorers who must venture to various corners of the galaxy to acquire mysterious artifacts. The game features an open world in the form of an area within the Milky Way galaxy, containing both fictional and non-fictional planetary systems.

<i>Chithi 2</i> Indian television series

Chithi 2 is an Indian Tamil-language soap opera which premiered on 27 January 2020 and ended on 28 May 2022 with 580 episodes on Sun TV. It is a reboot of the 1999 series Chithi. Produced by Radaan Mediaworks, it stars Preethi Sharma and Nandan Loganathan.

<i>Cooking Mama: Cookstar</i> 2020 video game

Cooking Mama: Cookstar was a cookery simulation-styled minigame compilation video game, and the sixth installment in the Cooking Mama series of video games. The game was the first entry in the Cooking Mama series since Cooking Mama 5: Bon Appétit! (2014), and the first Cooking Mama game to release on a home console since Cooking Mama: World Kitchen (2008) or Babysitting Mama (2010).

<i>Cocoon</i> (video game) 2023 video game

Cocoon is a 2023 puzzle adventure game developed by Geometric Interactive and published by Annapurna Interactive. The player controls a beetle that can hop between worlds, solving puzzles to unravel the universe's mysteries. The game was released on September 29, 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

<i>Lego Bricktales</i> 2022 video game

Lego Bricktales is a puzzle adventure game developed by ClockStone Studio and published by Thunderful. Lego Bricktales was released for Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on 12 October 2022, and for Android and iOS on 27 April 2023. A virtual/mixed reality version was released for Meta Quest 2, 3 and Pro on 7 December 2023. Lego Bricktales received generally positive reviews.

<i>Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical</i> 2023 video game

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is a roleplaying musical adventure game developed by Summerfall Studios and published by Humble Games. The game was released on August 10, 2023, for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

<i>Chants of Sennaar</i> 2023 video game

Chants of Sennaar is a 2023 adventure video game developed by Rundisc and published by Focus Entertainment. It was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 5 September 2023. The game is inspired by Heaven's Vault and Captain Blood. The gameplay mostly revolves around solving puzzles and minigames to translate fictional languages, but it also features stealth gameplay. The plot is inspired by the Tower of Babel myth, with the player translating between various different tribes that don't understand each other, as they speak different languages.

References

  1. ↑ "Made with Unity July 2023 roundup: Dave the Diver, Football Manager, and other games on top". Unity Technologies . 9 August 2023. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 Ahmed, Emad (31 July 2023). "Venba review - tasty puzzles and a recipe book". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  3. ↑ Murray, Sean (9 November 2022). "Venba Brings Biryani Baking To The Nintendo Switch Spring 2023". TheGamer. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  4. ↑ Valentine, Rebekah (10 July 2023). "Venba's Delectable Cooking Puzzles Are a Labor of Love". IGN. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  5. 1 2 Hetfeld, Malindy (3 August 2022). "Venba, a video game about the emotional resonance of food". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 10 September 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Singh Jubbal, Veerender (31 July 2023). "Venba Review - Tourist To Your Own Culture". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  7. 1 2 Carpenter, Nicole (31 July 2023). "Venba expands the boundaries of the cooking game genre". Polygon . Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  8. ↑ Ore, Jonathan (31 July 2023). "Indie game Venba serves up Tamil cuisine and family's heartfelt story of life in Canada". CBC. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  9. ↑ Ahmed, Emad (13 April 2021). "Venba is a cooking game obsessed with the emotional impact of food". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  10. ↑ Watts, Rachel (26 January 2021). "Venba is an upcoming cooking game about an Indian mother restoring her lost recipes". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Carpenter, Nicole (17 July 2023). "How Venba captures the sounds of Tamil cuisine". Polygon . Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Romano, Sal (9 November 2022). "Venba adds Switch version, launches in spring 2023". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  13. ↑ Romano, Sal (20 March 2023). "Venba adds PS5, Xbox Series, and Xbox One versions, delayed to summer". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  14. 1 2 "Venba critic reviews (PC)". Metacritic . Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Venba critic reviews (Switch)". Metacritic . Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Venba critic reviews (Xbox Series X)". Metacritic . Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  17. 1 2 "Venba critic reviews (PlayStation 5)". Metacritic . Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  18. 1 2 Andriessen, CJ (31 August 2023). "Review: Venba". Destructoid . Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  19. ↑ Colantonio, Giovanni (31 July 2023). "Venba review: Tamil stunner is one of 2023's best games". Digital Trends . Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  20. ↑ Cryer, Hirun (31 July 2023). "Venba review: 'A master of the subjects it explores'". GamesRadar+ . Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  21. ↑ See-Tho, Michelle (31 July 2023). "Review: Venba – A Narrative Cooking Game That Goes Down A Treat". Nintendo Life . Archived from the original on 4 August 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  22. ↑ McCormick, John Cal (31 July 2023). "Review: Venba (PS5) - A Moving Tale of Love, Loss, Family, and Food". Push Square . Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  23. ↑ Erskine, Donovan (31 July 2023). "Venba review: Amma's home cooking". Shacknews . Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  24. 1 2 Bankhurst, Adam (21 March 2024). "Game Developers Choice Awards 2024 Winners: The Full List". IGN. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  25. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (7 December 2023). "All The Game Awards 2023 Winners Revealed". GameSpot . Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  26. ↑ "27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Finalists". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  27. ↑ Chandler, Sam (15 February 2024). "The D.I.C.E. Awards 2024 winners & finalists". Shacknews . Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  28. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (16 January 2024). "Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3 top GDC Award nominations". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on 16 January 2024.
  29. ↑ Elderkin, Beth (11 January 2024). "Visai Games' Venba leads finalists for the 2024 IGF Awards". Game Developer . Archived from the original on 11 January 2024.
  30. ↑ Castle, Katharine (21 March 2024). "Venba wins IGF Grand Prize for 2024". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  31. ↑ "Bafta Games Awards 2024: Baldur's Gate 3 and Spider-Man lead nods". BBC News. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  32. ↑ "20th BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.