Review: Venba is a rich game in not only sound and art, but story as well

When I got this newest Humble Bundle, I was excited to see that Venba was part of it. Ever since I watched the 2023 Game Awards and saw that it had been nominated with other games that I knew I enjoyed, I wanted to get my hands on it.

I’m so glad that I got the chance to play it sooner rather than later. 

Gameplay and Controls

Venba tells a story about love and loss as well as generational expectations of immigrant culture. Throughout most of the game, you play as the mother in this family unit, aptly named Venba. She, with her husband, immigrated from India to Canada in 1988 in the hopes of a better future.

The game shows the hardships of uprooting into a new culture and just when the couple are considering moving back to India, Venba falls pregnant, prompting them to decide to stay. Soon after, they welcome Kavin.

Through Venba’s eyes, we see the struggles of trying to keep Kavin rooted in their Tamil heritage while Kavin is trying to navigate a world that doesn’t understand the culture. We’re shown these moments in an almost snap-shot form that centers around cooking.

Venba brought her mother’s cookbook with her from India, but some of the recipes are starting to fade. The running theme of the game is deciphering this cookbook and making the recipes that remind her of home and teach Kavin more about his Tamil culture.

I loved the narrative of the story, but I almost wished for more food scenes. I had a lot of fun making the recipes and figuring out what ingredients were needed from the faded book. I appreciated that with the passing years, the pages got more and more unreadable, prompting us to restore the recipes as we went. 

I won’t really talk more about the story since it’s a short game and I want readers to be able to play the game with a fresh experience, but I will say that it’s not all sunshine. It’s a tough story that many can relate to. 

As someone who didn’t grow up with a different culture in my home from the one outside my house, Venba wasn’t just an entertaining experience, it was a learning one as well. I’d never considered what it might be like for a child growing up with immigrant parents trying to fit in outside of the home.

This game takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions that will have you hopeful, sad, and upset for various reasons. It’s an important story not only for those who have felt this way in their own lives but for those who haven’t, as well. 

Art and Sound

The art and the music were arguably the best part of the entire game. I really loved the drawn quality of the art and the vibrant, rich colors were pleasing to the eye.

As for the music, I felt that Venba took a unique approach in giving us lyrical music instead of just background scores. In Venba, we see someone’s life through decades, so to have the styles of the music change over the years was such an amazing detail.

Honestly, there were several times during listening to the music that I wondered if these were licensed songs. I really enjoyed listening to the radio, but my favorite was the first song.

Aside from the art and music, the sound design for the cooking portions was great. 10 out of 10 on attention to detail. 

Coziness and Cons

Venba fits into the cozy genre nicely. It’s on the shorter side, so it’s a bite-sized experience. But, even being a smaller game, it spared no details in art or music. I felt that the cooking puzzles were never too hard.

The times I was having trouble with completing a recipe were entirely my own fault. I have no clue why I would completely dismiss a certain item on the table as being a decoration. You use everything on the table, which you’d think would be obvious. Brains are weird.

I didn’t find any cons with this game. The only time I felt anything other than enjoyment was dealing with Kavin’s attitude, which was an important emotion to feel. I think telling the story from Venba’s point of view was really impactful. Had we seen it from Kavin’s, I don’t think we would have gotten the message quite as clearly or felt some uncomfortable emotions quite so strongly. 

Mind, I’m not saying that Kavin’s experience is lacking, but it would have been about navigating Canadian expectations rather than seeing more of the Tamil culture.

Venba Verdict

Venba is an amazing game, as evidenced by it being nominated this past year for an award. It’s on the shorter side, but I absolutely recommend playing it. If you’re a child of immigration, this may speak to you on a whole other level. For me, I found it helpful in better understanding what people around me may be experiencing.

You can play Venba on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Playstation 5 for $14.99. If you’re interested in the soundtrack (and you will be), then you could get the deluxe version that includes it and the game on Steam at 10% off for $22.48. 

If you have a Game Pass for Xbox, this title is available for free with it.