Venba offers a tantalizing taste of Tamil culture that will leave you craving for more.
Venba offers a tantalizing taste of Tamil culture that will leave you craving for more.
Venba: A Delicious Love Letter to Tamil Culture
Imagine a plate of fluffy, steaming rice, crowned with a delicate garnish. Now picture a living room wall reflecting the passage of time with subtle differences. What do these things have in common? They both embody creations made out of love.
When it comes to Venba, the love and attention to detail in the game’s opening level are unmistakable. After experiencing a preview presentation and a roundtable interview with the game’s designer and creative director, Abhi, I realized that Venba wears its heart on its sleeve, with every single reference.
Venba takes us on a journey through three decades with a couple named Venba and Paavalan, who have immigrated from South India to Canada. The game touches on themes of immigration, family, culture, assimilation, and most importantly, food serves as the language that brings these conversations to life.
Abhi’s love shines not only through the food in Venba but in every aspect of the game. While researching cooking game mechanics, Abhi decided to take a different path. He wanted players to experience the art of cooking itself, rather than focusing on timing and movements like in Cooking Mama. This led to Venba’s puzzle-like nature, where players decipher recipes as part of the gameplay.
Venba’s recipes are presented in a cookbook passed down through generations of Venba’s family. Each dish featured in the game is meticulously chosen by Abhi, even though he admitted it was a challenge to decide which ones to include.
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Abhi’s initial idea was to create an in-depth game about Tamil cuisine, but he soon realized the impossibility of condensing such a rich subject into one game. Instead, he carefully selected recipes like idli, puttu, and biryani that not only made sense in the game’s narrative but held personal meaning to him.
The development of Venba took place during the pandemic, which posed unique challenges. The team had to navigate remote work setups and even had to source ingredients from different regions in order to record authentic sounds for the game. Patel, the sound designer, went as far as holding a microphone next to a pan, capturing the sizzle of frying oil. They wanted to ensure the sounds were as genuine as possible, as there weren’t many existing libraries of cooking sounds specific to South Indian cuisine.
Throughout Venba, you’ll encounter numerous references to Tamil culture that may go unnoticed by some players. Abhi takes pride in how the Indian gaming community on YouTube picked up on these elements, despite some initial disappointment about the game’s platform. Venba was initially announced for Nintendo Switch, which isn’t officially sold in India, but it was later confirmed for PC as well.
Abhi hopes that Venba will ignite curiosity in players and motivate them to learn more about Tamil culture. His belief is that the more we embrace our local culture, the more we become a part of the global community. This sentiment is inspired by a quote from one of his favorite Tamil film directors, who argued against conforming to international standards and instead embraced their heritage.
Before Venba, Abhi and art director Sam Elkana were working on a different project called Balloon Man, but it soon gave way to the concept of Venba. They realized this was the project they truly wanted to bring to life, and the result is a game that fully immerses players in Tamil culture and history.
Venba may not represent the full diversity of Tamil culture, but it presents one person’s affectionate love letter to their own upbringing and heritage. It all starts with a humble steamed rice cake and evolves into a culinary journey that honors the essence of Tamil cuisine.
