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Venba

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Venba

Jul 31, 2023

Main game

3.73 average rating based on 208 ratings

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Venba is a narrative cooking game, where you play as an Indian mom, who immigrates to Canada with her family in the 1980s. Players will cook various dishes and restore lost recipes, hold branching conversations and explore in this story about family, love, loss and more.
Release Dates
Jul 31, 2023 Full Release (Worldwide)
Nintendo Switch, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Jul 28, 2025 Full Release (Worldwide)
Mac
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User Stats
1151
In Collection
74
Wish Listed
1
Playing
707
Backlogged
How Long Is Venba?
Main story: 1.6 hours
Main + extras: 1.7 hours
100% completion: 2.9 hours
Total completions: 25
Related Content
giopep
giopep gave Apr 8, 2024
giopep gave Apr 8, 2024
giopep's review of Venba

The last of the bunch of games I played with Daughter in the beginning of this year, Venba is such a beautiful thing. It kinda takes the Cooking Mama concept but instead of using it to make an arcade game it channels through it a lovely story that does what every story should do: going all-in on the specific to transcend it and become universal. We were raptured and moved.

Vencel
Vencel gave Jan 25, 2025
Vencel gave Jan 25, 2025
Vencel's review of Venba

Venba (Xbox SS) - Un bonito juego sobre cocinar recetas indias mientras conoces la historia de una familia inmigrante que viaja a Canadá en busca de oportunidades. Muy bonito en lo artístico y la OST, merecidas dos nominaciones en los Game Awards.

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Shirochwan
Shirochwan gave Mar 14, 2024
Shirochwan gave Mar 14, 2024
De sucre et d'épices

On a pas assez de jeux de cuisine. Sortis de Cooking Mama, on arrive dans les jeux de gestion et de farming.

Venba se présente comme un jeu de puzzles narratif. Les énigmes prennent la forme de recettes de cuisine abimées, il va alors falloir faire appel à notre déduction pour faire les choses dans le bon ordre et réussir notre plat. Aucune difficulté cependant, le jeu est généreux en indices, il n'y a pas de timer, pas de conséquence si vous loupez votre plat. C'est détente !

C'est au travers de ces recettes de cuisine que se tisse l'histoire d'une famille d'immigrés indiens au canada à la fin des années 80.

Et pour moi, c'est là que le bât blesse: Quelle vie de merde ! Comprenez bien, je ne minimise pas les souffrances des personnes immigrées loin de leur pays d'origine et au vu des noms de l'équipe créative je suis sûre qu'ils parlent d'expérience et ont voulu témoigner d'éléments réels. Mais, peut-être que c'est lié à la longueur du jeu (bouclé en une heure) mais on a l'impression que la pauvre Venba n'a rien connu de joyeux en 30 ans. Comment suis-je sensée, en tant que joueuse, …

Read More

On a pas assez de jeux de cuisine. Sortis de Cooking Mama, on arrive dans les jeux de gestion et de farming.

Venba se présente comme un jeu de puzzles narratif. Les énigmes prennent la forme de recettes de cuisine abimées, il va alors falloir faire appel à notre déduction pour faire les choses dans le bon ordre et réussir notre plat. Aucune difficulté cependant, le jeu est généreux en indices, il n'y a pas de timer, pas de conséquence si vous loupez votre plat. C'est détente !

C'est au travers de ces recettes de cuisine que se tisse l'histoire d'une famille d'immigrés indiens au canada à la fin des années 80.

Et pour moi, c'est là que le bât blesse: Quelle vie de merde ! Comprenez bien, je ne minimise pas les souffrances des personnes immigrées loin de leur pays d'origine et au vu des noms de l'équipe créative je suis sûre qu'ils parlent d'expérience et ont voulu témoigner d'éléments réels. Mais, peut-être que c'est lié à la longueur du jeu (bouclé en une heure) mais on a l'impression que la pauvre Venba n'a rien connu de joyeux en 30 ans. Comment suis-je sensée, en tant que joueuse, accepter l'arc de rédemption de Kavin alors qu'il a été un fils indigne pendant tout le jeu, même à l'âge adulte ? Et j'ai l'impression que le jeu s'en rend compte lui-même, un texto que l'on supprime dans une cinématique disant grossomodo "Je refuse d'admettre que j'ai fait tout ça pour rien, que je n'avais pas de raison d'être en colère". Dans les années 90 la diaspora Tamil au canada c'est 30 000 personnes, vous allez me dire que la famille de Venba est resté dans son coin pendant 20 ans ? Venba qui nous est présentée comme une jeune femme passionnée, qui est prof, qui n'hésite pas à faire grève devient une serpillère pendant 30 ans ?

J'ai l'impression que le jeu essaie en permanence de victimiser ses personnages. Et au fond je trouve ça insultant. Je trouve ça insultant pour tous les Tamil qui ont rencontré le succès au canada, qui font vivre et rayonner leur traditions et qui ont élevé une génération de canadiens-tamil bien dans ses baskets dont je suis sûr que certains membres de l'équipe sont issus !

Je pense que c'est vraiment un problème d'écriture. Un jeu plus long aurait permis plus de développement, plus de nuances.

Surtout qu'on en redemande ! La direction artistique est charmante, le chara-design des personnages est adorable et la palette de couleurs trouve son paroxysme dans les phases de cuisine avec les épices, les légumes...On en mangerait ! La radio Tamil ajoute un vrai plus, certaines chansons super entrainantes m'ont vraiment mis dans le mood. On regrettera peut-être qu'elles ne soient pas plus en adéquation avec l'action du jeu (la première recette est accompagnée d'une musique très épique qui ne va pas trop avec une Venba malade et peu sûre d'elle).

Un autre truc très sympa c'est que le jeu vient avec un petit livres de recettes intégré, en vous procurant le matériel adéquat vous pourrez donc refaire les recettes du jeu !

Bref, même si j'ai un peu de mal avec l'histoire, c'était un jeu sympa. Je le conseille pour tous les afficionado de cuisine !

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gemmareneeb
gemmareneeb gave Dec 27, 2023
gemmareneeb gave Dec 27, 2023
Sweet but short

Very sweet little game although very few actual "game" parts, a lot more clicking through dialogue. I really enjoyed the first recipes as there was a bit of a puzzle to figuring them out, by about half way through the game the rest of the recipes were clicking highlighted options, so I got a little bored. The story was really touching though, felt more like an interactive story than it did a game at many points.

Eerp
Eerp gave Aug 30, 2023
Eerp gave Aug 30, 2023
Underseasoned

At least it was short but it really needed a way to scroll text faster. At least when using the chapter mode. It is a minor annoyance.

This game is full of little annoyance choices. The story is interesting and sweet and the gameplay (while limited) was fun enough. But all the things that are annoying are never too bad but they are... not good.

Also, as of right now, I have an achievement I fulfilled the requirements for that did not pop. Not bad persay as you can still experience everything the game has to offer but another slight annoyance, y'know?

mmeagan
mmeagan gave Feb 18, 2026
mmeagan gave Feb 18, 2026
Short & Sweet
This review is for the PlayStation 5 version

Lacking in gameplay. Fun puzzles though.

V1CGaming
V1CGaming gave Nov 19, 2023 (edited)
V1CGaming gave Nov 19, 2023 (edited)
V1CGaming's review of Venba

In terms of gameplay, this is a basic point-and-click, the complexity of which lies in the correct sequence of actions and the ingredients, and if you don't know English at the conversational level, then it will be very difficult to understand, especially at the last levels, there are quite a few dishes in the game, less than 10, and the main timing is occupied by animated cutscenes telling a rather everyday story about moving and lack of money, as well as about the importance of maintaining communication with parents, and we often have time keeps, hop and now Venba is already a grandmother, hop and the son is already at the age of the father, we don`t even have time to feel the characters in 1-2 hours of timing.

Indian songs annoyed me in culinary episodes, so the "cultural" bias in the game is clearly not for everyone, isn't suitable for everyone, but you can learn some interesting facts about food if, again, you know English. Nevertheless, I cannot but note the pleasant visual part of the game, it’s impossible to hate the game for “average”, probably suitable for fans of cooking or simple cute games.

Trost
Trost updated their status Dec 8, 2025
Trost updated their status Dec 8, 2025

Wow, I watched a bit of a lets play and the way the mother tries to force Indian culture upon their son, who’s born and lives in Canada really made me frustrated. It’s my pet peeve. Removed from wish list.

BMO
BMO updated their status Jun 27, 2025
BMO updated their status Jun 27, 2025

In a sea of bullshit, here’s some more fresh bullshit:

This Game Sure Looks A Lot Like Venba

It’s no wonder that game developers would take inspiration from Venba. That’s not inherently a bad thing, unless you’re doing what mobile game developer Global Advertising Network LTD — lol — is doing: Whitewashing out any of the things that make Venba incredible, blatantly cribbing its art style, and turning it into a sloppy mobile cash grab.

Global Advertising Network’s game Sofra is marketed as a cooking simulator and released some time in 2024. It’s seemingly gone somewhat under the radar since then, though the Google Play Store lists it as having more than 10,000 downloads. There’s no story; it simply takes the gameplay mechanics and art style of Venba, following recipes to create inspired, creative dishes like, uh, peanut butter and jelly. As you might expect, there’s a microtransaction for everything — to earn more coins, remove ads, and to unlock levels like the vague “Asian Food Pack.”

Visai Games called out Sofra on BlueSky: “If you ever wanted a version of Venba where you get to make sandwiches instead of Tamil food and don't have to contend with themes …

Read More

In a sea of bullshit, here’s some more fresh bullshit:

This Game Sure Looks A Lot Like Venba

It’s no wonder that game developers would take inspiration from Venba. That’s not inherently a bad thing, unless you’re doing what mobile game developer Global Advertising Network LTD — lol — is doing: Whitewashing out any of the things that make Venba incredible, blatantly cribbing its art style, and turning it into a sloppy mobile cash grab.

Global Advertising Network’s game Sofra is marketed as a cooking simulator and released some time in 2024. It’s seemingly gone somewhat under the radar since then, though the Google Play Store lists it as having more than 10,000 downloads. There’s no story; it simply takes the gameplay mechanics and art style of Venba, following recipes to create inspired, creative dishes like, uh, peanut butter and jelly. As you might expect, there’s a microtransaction for everything — to earn more coins, remove ads, and to unlock levels like the vague “Asian Food Pack.”

Visai Games called out Sofra on BlueSky: “If you ever wanted a version of Venba where you get to make sandwiches instead of Tamil food and don't have to contend with themes of like dealing with racism, then I have good news for you! This mobile game rip-off with stolen assets is for you!!”

Read Less
Scoobydiesel
Scoobydiesel updated their status Sep 24, 2024
Scoobydiesel updated their status Sep 24, 2024

Beautiful animation, amazing story and just loved the theme/core of the story. The family and the disconnect, the generations. Not to mentioned how awesome some of the food sounded and looked. The gameplay is pretty simple puzzle cooking mechanic but it had some hidden twists which I enjoyed the game so much I went back and finished those other recipe/moments.

georgeypoorgey
georgeypoorgey updated their status Apr 16, 2024
georgeypoorgey updated their status Apr 16, 2024

Very early in Venba but I find kinship with overthinking Paavalan. Heck, I consider quitting my job and moving someplace far away even when my wife doesn't surprise me with news of her pregnancy!

georgeypoorgey
georgeypoorgey updated their status Mar 13, 2024
georgeypoorgey updated their status Mar 13, 2024

I wish every game had cookbook DLC. I would have made some Porgy meunière by now if Tears of the Kingdom had cookbook DLC.

Aedelweiss
Aedelweiss updated their status Jan 20, 2024
Aedelweiss updated their status Jan 20, 2024

I was not expecting this game to creep up and destroy me in the way that it did. I, too, have a complicated, distancing, & strained relationship with my mom. When I finished, I immediately called her.

Arkalliant
Arkalliant updated their status Dec 12, 2023
Arkalliant updated their status Dec 12, 2023

Really good game about making your parents sad

Eerp
Eerp updated their status Aug 30, 2023
Eerp updated their status Aug 30, 2023

Hmm... I have all but one achievement and I do not think it is a spoiler to say that it is one that requires me to unlock other achievements. How mildly annoying! I tried closing the game and redoing the ending and it did not pop. Hmm.

Online research does not show anyone else seeing this. Not the best last impression...

For search purposes it is the one called "Paavalan Would Be Proud" It is literally the last one I need.

SRT5J
SRT5J updated their status Aug 5, 2023
SRT5J updated their status Aug 5, 2023

So, a cooking puzzle game is not something I would usually give a chance, but, I'm visiting my cousin and I'm having a nice time playing this. So much for quality time with my favorite cousin, but she tells me it's very short

BMO
BMO updated their status Aug 1, 2023
BMO updated their status Aug 1, 2023

Purchased and queued up for when I'm done 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Can't wait. Love that I'm starting the month with Venba and planning to end it with Goodbye Volcano High. Bless those Canadian indies!

BMO
BMO updated their status Jun 20, 2023
BMO updated their status Jun 20, 2023

Great demo. Short, which I appreciate because I didn’t want to get too deep into the narrative. Not that I needed a demo to solidify my decision to pick this up at launch, but it didn’t hurt either.

georgeypoorgey
georgeypoorgey updated their status Jun 10, 2023
georgeypoorgey updated their status Jun 10, 2023

July 31st release date let's gooooooo!!!

BMO
BMO updated their status Nov 9, 2022
BMO updated their status Nov 9, 2022

Yay, Venba has a release window. So excited to finally play this!