Sinceramente eu não esperava tanto de Venba, não tanto quanto ele, em sua curta duração, me fez sentir.

Venba é simplesmente lindo, uma história sobre comida, cultura e família bem específica, mas que pode ressoar com tanta gente de tantas formas que pra mim é difícil colocar em palavras. A sutileza com a qual o jogo aborda seus temas de imigração e cultura da índia, o visual e a trilha sonora, como a escrita também é muito sincera e orgânica, eu simplesmente amei Venba.

Cada família tem uma história e a história da família de Venba é algo que me toca em pontos muito específicos da minha infância, por mais que eu não possa estar mais distante da vida de uma mulher indiana vivendo no Canadá. Curto, charmoso, bonito, emocionante... Venba é especial.

Venba has such a distinct style. Seems almost like pointillism, with the edges especially having this dotted appearance.

The themes are surprisingly hard-hitting. Themes of maintaining cultures and identity (especially in a foreign and monolithic country). Canada is more of a mixing pot than most countries, but still, emigrants face varying levels of discrimination and trepidation. This is felt more acutely in school, where no one wants to stand out. There is a scene involving violence against a family member that isn't explained fully. I wish that scene was fleshed out more. They might have shied away from showing that scene fully because of its mature tone.

The gameplay was puzzle-based cooking. The puzzles were well designed and satisfyingly challenging. Nothing brain-melting, but fun. I was hankering for some Indian food after seeing all these delicious concotions. The music was fantastic and upbeat as well and kept the puzzle gameplay feeling lively.

If there was one thing this game was missing, it's voice acting. All in all an amazing bite-sized experience that tells an affecting story accompanied by fun and perfectly challenging puzzle gameplay.