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Venba developers on Indian cooking gameplay & the comfort of homeland food

The lead designer of Visai Games spoke to us about narrative cooking game Venba, its tale of first-generation immigrants, and the importance of cultural foods.

TJ Denzer

April 24, 2023 4:25 PM

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Home is where the heart is, and the fastest way to the heart is said to be through the stomach. This is at the core of indie studio Visai Games’ upcoming game about Indian immigrants and culinary culture. We recently caught up to the lead designer of the game, known online as Ahbi, to talk about how this game came together and what it attempts to convey in its wholesome design.

Venba is unique from a large number of games that tackle the topic of immigration to a new land. Where many focus on the children and second-generation immigrants, Venba instead focuses on the parents and first-generation. It’s a story of a family struggling to find comfort in a new land, where not everyone in the family feels good about the changes, and the story of how homeland food brings them together.

One of the most important things to Ahbi in telling this story was that he wanted to properly convey Indian cooking, the meals that make a family feel at home, and how they are prepared. To that end, Visai Games is actually creating a cookbook that will accompany Venba, including many of the recipes that are utilized in-game. He hopes that players will explore Indian cooking even outside the game and learn more about the culture behind it.

Visai Games is hoping to launch Venba in summer 2023 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Want more videos like this Venba interview? Be sure to head over to our YouTube channels at Shacknews and GamerHubTV where you’ll find all of our video reviews, interviews, gameplay, unboxing, and more on the latest video games, technology, and toys.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.