Unleash Your Culinary Creativity with Venba: The Ultimate Cooking Game Experience

Highlights

Diverging from the conventional cooking game formula, Venba moves away from time-based challenges and instead offers a narrative-driven experience that delves into the profound value of preserving cultural heritage through the medium of food.

In Venba, the central cooking mechanic revolves around reviving old, damaged recipes, enabling players to prepare and savor authentic South Indian cuisine while immersing themselves in the significant moments of the cooking process. This captivating narrative cooking game by Visai Studios explores the intricate family dynamics of an immigrant family in Canada, spanning several years of their lives as they navigate challenges, undergo personal growth, and experience profound transformations. Deviating from the norms of mainstream cooking games, Venba places a strong emphasis on storytelling and delves into the profound significance of food as an embodiment of culture, family bonds, love, and loss. Venba will be launching on Game Pass, PC, PlayStation, and Switch on July 31.

Game Rant spoke with Abhi, a writer and designer, to explore the unique attributes of Venba that distinguish it from other cooking games in the industry. Moreover, Abhi sheds light on the distinctiveness of these features and their significance in Visai Studios' latest release.

Venba Distinguishes Itself as a Cooking Game With Heart and a Poignant Narrative

The cooking games genre is well-established in the gaming industry. A simple Google search of "cooking games" reveals a plethora of options, making it difficult to distinguish one from the other at first glance. These games generally follow a similar gameplay pattern - players take on the role of a character in a kitchen and must prepare dishes promptly to avoid dissatisfied customers or negative consequences like diminished experience points. Some games, such as Overcooked, offer multiplayer modes where friends can join forces in a challenging kitchen environment, testing their teamwork skills and possibly straining friendships along the way towards victory.

Venba breaks free from the conventional mold and distinguishes itself by shifting the gameplay focus from a timed assembly paradigm to a narrative-driven story. While cooking remains central to the gameplay experience, the game takes a unique approach by emphasizing it as a form of communication and the preservation of culture amidst numerous challenges and transformations.

“We aimed to redefine the way cooking is portrayed in games by exploring new avenues. Considering that the game's themes revolve around culture and its significance, the concept of a partially readable recipe book, representing damage, seemed highly fitting."

In Venba, the main cooking mechanic centers around the mother's collection of old, damaged recipes. Players have the opportunity to prepare 10 meals inspired by South Indian cuisine, with each dish holding a special place in Abhi's heart. By restoring Venba's old recipes found in her cookbook, players can recreate authentic dishes from her homeland. These delectable meals capture the true essence of South Indian cuisine, highlighting key moments of the cooking process, such as the sizzle of water on a hot dosa pan or the perfectly cooked appearance of biryani.

What sets Venba apart from other cooking games is its genuine exploration of culture and the cultivation of community. One notable aspect of the game, as mentioned by Abhi to Game Rant, is the availability of ingredients. Venba depicts the 1980s to the 2010s, and over time, the accessibility of key ingredients expands alongside the growth of the immigrant community in Canada. This demonstrates how community involvement can contribute to the preservation and enhancement of culture, both locally and traditionally.

Venba's availability on Game Pass from its launch is credited to a strong partnership with Microsoft, which enabled Abhi to secure resources and fully realize their game vision. As a result, Venba stands out from other cooking games by authentically exploring the significance of food within the contexts of family, culture, love, and loss throughout its narrative.

Venba releases on July 31 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.