Venba, an ASMR-esque cooking game, involves the usage of puzzles to restore a family’s old cooking book.The game comes from developer Visa Studios and is out on Game Pass now.
As for the background of the game’s story, an Indian woman by the name of Venba, together with her husband Paavalan and their son Kavin, work alongside one another to create a better life for themselves. The family immigrated from India to Toronto, Canada and the game is set in the 80s. While the game enmeshes you in puzzles to restore Venba’s mother’s old cookbook, the game shows how the family must either assimilate to cultural norms in Toronto or fight to maintain their Indian identity.
At the onset of the game, the family is struggling economically because Venba’s and Paavalan’s attempts to receive a job have proven to be unsuccessful. Their applications have repeatedly been rejected and the family starts to panic about the unknown future ahead. The birth of their child, Kavin, has also made their finances much harder to stabilize. As such, the family considers moving back to India. Ultimately, the family decides to remain in Toronto and use their cookbook to hold onto their rich cultural heritage. Although the cookbook acts as a hallowed relic for the family’s Indian heritage, their child Kavin wants to assimilate into the North American culture by indulging in food like pizza and hamburgers. Kavin assimilates in fear of being bullied in school because he is different. The duality between Venba’s desire to maintain her Indian heritage and Kavin’s desire to assimilate into North American culture is manifested in the puzzles that players must solve.
As for the cookbook itself and its relationship in the game, a lot of the recipes in the cookbook have water damage and many of the crucial steps and ingredients are missing as a result. To overcome this, Players must uncover Venba’s memories of her past and her relationship with her mother. By solving puzzles, and uncovering details of Venba’s past, dishes are completed when all the puzzles required are solved. For instance, in one dish that requires the addition of shaved coconut and a layer of rice that is supposed to be cooked in a cylindrical cooker is solved when Kavin’s eyes light up when a memory about a rocket ship surfaces. This helps the player to realize the dish must be cooked in that cylindrical cooker.
Venba is a heartwarming game that follows an immigrant family’s plight to simultaneously assimilate to North American culture while retaining their Indian cultural heritage. This plight is reflected in the puzzles the game presents. All in all, the game is an emotional roller-coaster and is sure to move any player.