Venba is a short narrative cooking game, where you play as an Indian mom who immigrates to Canada with her family in the 1980s. Cook various dishes and restore lost recipes, hold branching conversations, and explore South Indian food in this story about family, love, and loss.
Modeled estimate, not a reported figure. How we estimate →
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Every price cut of more than 20% we have observed, in each market that quoted one, with this game's chart position on either side of it. These are episodes, not a model: a sale is one event, and one event cannot tell you what the next one will do.
Reviews, worldwide (the counter carries no country): 2.57/day in the week to Aug 1 → 7.71/day in the week after.
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Each DLC is estimated with the same model as a game, then summed — a modeled figure, not reported DLC sales.
Sums Steam only; PlayStation, GOG, Nintendo publish no volume signal, so the true total is higher by an unknown amount.
| Store | Price | Audience | Score | Chart | Est. revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SteamYou are here | $14.99 | 3.8Kreviews | 92% | — | $674K |
| $3.74−75% | 2.3Kratings | 84% | — | not modelled | |
Engagement
Reviews
Themes across 253 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
Reviews
[h1]Venba[/h1] ☐ Loved it ☑ Liked it ☐ Not for me [b]Weighted rating[/b] out of 5 [h3]3.16[/h3] [h2]Summary[/h2] Restore lost recipes while following an immigrant Tamil family through the decades. [b]Best for:[/b] Players seeking a heartfelt, narrative-driven point-and-click experience about family, dreams, and cultural identity. [b]Skip if:[/b] You want branching narratives with meaningful choices, or substantial gameplay beyond the story. The game's brief, linear, and light on interactivity. [h1]Review[/h1] I must say, this was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Which I recognize is an odd statement to make for a game that looks to be about food. But this is a story about identity, heritage, raising a child in a foreign country, and that child's need to form their own, all told through the kitchen and cooking. The generational tension is the game's real engine. [spoiler]Kavin's rejection of his mother's cooking and language feels like a somewhat painful, necessary cost of assimilation. The game doesn't judge him for it, nor does it let Venba off the hook for her stubbornness.[/spoiler] The game started out quite rough, with a [spoiler]husband who can't cook and this burden falling on his then-sick wife. Or, more accurately, she feels obligated to sort out his childish behavior. As the story progressed, it became more evident that Venba is depressed, feeling rejected by her son and struggling to find a job which adds stress to both the family's financial security and her self-esteem.[/spoiler] The puzzles (cooking) aren't complex but they're quite fun. And they made me hungry. The cooking itself, though, is more garnish than meal if that make sense. I mostly dragged ingredients to a pot and following Venba's notes, with little room for experimentation or failure. The voice acting and dialogue are enjoyable, feeling natural and not contrived. The story ties up its knots nicely. What stood out to me were large portions of the soundtrack. It hits all the right notes, with original songs composed by Alpha Something that pay homage to Tamil film music, apparently recorded with live instruments and vocals. The achievements are not difficult, and there is the possibility to choose chapters at the end of a full game. But there is as far as I can tell no indication which part failed. For example, one achievement is about cooking all dishes without making any mistakes a long the way. When I completed the game, the achievement didn't pop. So obviously I had made a mistake somewhere. Where? Had to play through a few chapters again before getting the achievement. [h1]Grading[/h1] [h3]Game Design & Game Play[/h3] [b]Core Game Loop[/b] ☐ Magnetic ☐ Engaging ☑ Solid ☐ Repetitive ☐ Tedious [b]Arc & Pacing[/b] ☐ Impeccable ☑ Well-judged ☐ Functional ☐ Uneven ☐ Ruinous [b]Narrative & Thematic Coherence[/b] ☐ Masterful ☐ Compelling ☑ Serviceable ☐ Weak ☐ Incoherent [b]Systems Breadth[/b] ☐ Vast ☐ Broad ☐ Adequate ☑ Sparse ☐ One-dimensional [b]Systems Depth[/b] ☐ Emergent ☐ Deep ☐ Qualified ☑ Exhaustible ☐ One-dimensional [h3]Sensory & Aesthetics[/h3] [b]Art[/b] ☐ Breathtaking ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Fair ☐ Poor [b]Sound Design[/b] ☐ Seamless ☑ Immersive ☐ Fitting ☐ Muddy ☐ Grating [b]Soundtrack[/b] ☑ Transcendent ☐ Memorable ☐ Pleasant ☐ Forgettable ☐ Annoying [b]Controls & Interactions[/b] ☐ Intuitive ☑ Attentive ☐ Adequate ☐ Frustrating ☐ Unplayable [h3]Longevity & Value[/h3] [b]Longevity[/b] ☐ Enduring ☐ Substantial ☐ Adequate ☑ Meager ☐ Ephemeral [b]Replayability Structures[/b] ☐ Bottomless ☐ Plentiful ☐ Adequate ☑ Low ☐ None [b]Value Density[/b] (picked up for [b]3,74€[/b] @ -75% off) ☐ Exceptional ☐ Strong ☑ Proportional ☐ Vague ☐ Predatory
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For scale, across Steam · Top Sellers · Brazil over the last 30 days: the 26 chart moves that followed a price cut of more than 20% went a median of 7 places towards #1, and the 2,400 moves with no price cut behind them went 2 away. One store, one chart, one country — it is the only place we have enough observations to say even that.
Prices outside the United States have been collected since 6 August 2026 and chart positions since 19 July 2026, so a cut older than that has no market to compare and a market that joined later has no history yet. Nothing here is converted between currencies.
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English**languages with full audio support
| $3.75−75% |
| 150ratings |
| 86% |
| — |
| not modelled |
| $3.74−75% | — | — | — | not modelled |
Matched by title — a reused name can pair the wrong games. * is a critic aggregate. Prices and positions are each store's United States storefront; Epic charts worldwide. Audience and Score too, except Steam's, which is worldwide.
Hours played at review time, across 253 reviews with recorded playtime.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
I started Venba like it was nothing. I'd put together a list of short indies, opened this one on a random afternoon, and only got up three hours later, with all the achievements done. I'm not Indian. I still saw myself in that family, whole. As a Black man, Kavin got to me in a way I wasn't ready for: the ordinary teenage rebellion, sure, but mostly the urge to fit into a place that is hostile to where you come from and quietly erases part of who you are. It made me think of my father trying to show me Racionais MC's, the group that built Brazilian rap, back when I only listened to rock, and of me laughing at him, calling it lesser music. It took me years to understand what I was refusing to see, being Black and from the periferia myself, the working-class outskirts those songs were written for and about. Venba is about exactly this, and it never wags a finger at you: when the mother says her son is only trying to fit in, the game trades blame for understanding. Everyone in that apartment is trying to survive, to be loved, and to be seen. What surprised me is that the cooking isn't decoration. I don't play cooking games, and still the recipe puzzles are tactile and satisfying, and they carry the story without explaining a thing. Food as a mother tongue. The dish as the last thing left standing when everything else gets lost in translation. While I was playing, I started texting my mom, asking how her day had been, how her week was going. We drift into autopilot and assume people will always be there. Venba pulled me out of that in three hours. Few sixty-dollar games do that. An easy recommendation. Just clear the whole afternoon, because you won't want to stop halfway, and leave yourself some time afterwards to sit with it.
[h1]【薇妮巴一家 Venba】妈妈的味道：一份会把你饿哭的"印度菜谱解密器"🍛[/h1] [hr][/hr] [h2]🫕 一句话省流（赶时间的直接看这）[/h2] [quote=本评测师]这游戏根本不是"做饭游戏"，而是一台 [b]《移民家庭催泪发射器》[/b]——你以为是来学印度料理的，结果是来被亲情暴击的。[/quote] [list] [][b]类型[/b]：叙事向料理解谜（80% 剧情 + 20% 做饭，比例极其诚实） [][b]时长[/b]：主线约 1.5 小时，全成就约 2.2 小时（一顿外卖的时间） [][b]价格[/b]：Steam 原价 $14.99，国区史低 [b]￥19.1[/b]（一顿咖喱都不止这个价） [][b]口碑[/b]：Steam [b]极度好评[/b]（约 92.5%，3400+ 评价）；小黑盒 [b]7.9 分[/b]、93% 好评、6 万玩家 [][b]中文[/b]：[b]无官方中文[/b]，有民间汉化补丁（下面给指路） [][b]结论[/b]：适合想被治愈又被扎心的人；不适合想"真·炒菜"的人 [/list] [hr][/hr] [h2]📖 这游戏到底是个啥[/h2] 你扮演 [b]Venba[/b]，一位 1980 年代跟着家人移民到加拿大的泰米尔妈妈。她唯一的精神支柱——[b]那本祖传菜谱[/b]——在搬家时被水泡烂了。于是你一边解密残缺的菜谱，一边重做南印度家乡菜：idli（蒸米糕）、puttu、biryani（香料饭）、dosa（煎饼）…… [b]但重点根本不是菜，是菜背后的人。[/b] 游戏用 7 个章节横跨几十年，讲一个移民家庭：妈妈想守住家乡味，儿子 Kavin 想融入新国家，两代人鸡同鸭讲，最后——（这里我不剧透，反正纸巾自备）。 [i]说个冷知识：这游戏拿过 IGF 的 Seumas McNally 大奖（独立游戏界的奥斯卡），但 Steam 评价里一半人在夸"美术音乐绝了"，另一半人在哀嚎"太短了"+"我怎么半夜看着蒸米糕流泪"。[/i] [hr][/hr] [h2]🎮 攻略为王：全成就 & 做菜不翻车指南[/h2] [h3]① 做菜解谜核心逻辑（记住这条，基本不会卡）[/h3] [list] []菜谱上的字是 [b]泰米尔语[/b]，[b]看不懂是正常的[/b]（全球 99% 玩家都看不懂），别纠结。 []每一关的真正提示藏在 [b]NPC 对话和文字气泡[/b] 里，妈妈会"无意间"说出关键步骤。 []操作就是 [b]点击 + 拖拽[/b]：加料、搅拌、翻面。谜题都很轻，[b]试错成本几乎为零[/b]。 []真卡住了？别硬刚，[b]直接看社区攻略[/b]（[url=steamcommunity.com/app/1491670/guides]Steam 指南区[/url] 有大佬整理了图文步骤），游戏不值得你抓狂。 [/list] [h3]② 全成就速通方案（约 1.5~2.2 小时）[/h3] [table] [tr][th]成就类型[/th][th]难度[/th][th]提示[/th][/tr] [tr][td]通关类成就[/td][td]无脑[/td][td]正常推完 7 章即可[/td][/tr] [tr][td]完美做菜类[/td][td]需注意[/td][td]有 [b]"零失误/完美"[/b] 类成就，做菜时别瞎点，[b]先看攻略再动手[/b]，否则要重打章节[/td][/tr] [tr][td]章节补做类[/td][td]简单[/td][td]通关后可在章节选择界面 [b]切回去补[/b] 漏掉的成就[/td][/tr] [/table] [b]核心口诀：先看攻略，再动锅铲。[/b] 手残党请放心，这游戏没有"黑暗料理"惩罚，最多就是菜糊了妈妈叹口气而已。 [h3]③ 无中文怎么办[/h3] [list] []官方没中文，但英文难度不高（日常对话 + 少量食材词），英语过了四级基本无压力。 []想用汉化？搜索"[b]Venba 民间汉化[/b]"即可，小黑盒 / B站有玩家整理的补丁指路。 [*]顺便收获：通关后游戏 [b]附赠全套真实印度菜谱[/b]，很多玩家表示"最值的其实是这玩意"——买游戏送菜谱，四舍五入等于白嫖。 [/list] [hr][/hr] [h2]👍 好评区 vs 👎 差评区（我帮你们把架吵完了）[/h2] [table] [tr][th]👍 大家夸的[/th][th]👎 大家骂的[/th][/tr] [tr][td]美术手绘风精致、音乐印度味拉满[/td][td]太短，主线 1.5 小时就没了[/td][/tr] [tr][td]移民/亲情主题真实扎心，有人玩到哭[/td][td]剧情被吐槽"结尾强行包饺子"[/td][/tr] [tr][td]附赠真实菜谱，白嫖印度美食知识[/td][td]做饭占比低，想炒菜的建议右转《胡闹厨房》[/td][/tr] [tr][td]IGF 大奖，独立游戏排面[/td][td]无官方中文，劝退一部分人[/td][/tr] [/table] [i]说白了：这游戏是"情感驱动型"，不是"玩法驱动型"。你抱着"学做印度菜"的心态来，会觉得被骗；你抱着"看一个温暖又心酸的故事"的心态来，会觉得血赚。[/i] [hr][/hr] [h2]🏆 总结 & 购买建议[/h2] [list] [][b]建议买[/b]：喜欢剧情叙事、能接受 1~2 小时小体量、有移民/离家/两代人隔阂经历的人——你会被精准狙击。 [][b]降价买[/b]：史低 ￥19.1 就是白给价，蹲个打折绝对不亏。 [*][b]别买[/b]：只想做饭、想要玩法深度、或者对"煽情"过敏的朋友。 [/list] [b]本评测师最终评分：8/10[/b]（美术音乐满分，篇幅扣 1 分，中文扣 1 分）。 [quote=最后一句真心话]这游戏让我大半夜爬起来给我妈打了个电话。你问我值不值？我妈说："你这孩子，玩游戏玩魔怔了。" 值。[/quote] [hr][/hr] [h1]🇬🇧 English Version (for my international steam fam)[/h1] [h2]🫕 TL;DR[/h2] [list] [][b]Genre[/b]: Narrative cooking-puzzle ([b]80% story, 20% cooking[/b] — and it's honest about it) [][b]Length[/b]: ~1.5h main story, ~2.2h for 100% [][b]Price[/b]: $14.99 MSRP (goes on sale for a few bucks — basically free) [][b]Reception[/b]: Steam [b]Very Positive[/b] (~92.5%, 3,400+ reviews); it won the IGF Seumas McNally Grand Prize [*][b]Verdict[/b]: Buy it to feel things, not to actually cook [/list] [hr][/hr] [h2]📖 What it actually is[/h2] You play as [b]Venba[/b], a Tamil mother who immigrates to Canada in the 1980s. Her sacred family recipe book got waterlogged in the move, so you must [b]decode the damaged recipes[/b] and re-cook South Indian dishes — idli, puttu, biryani, dosa. But the real dish here is [b]family drama served hot[/b]. Across 7 chapters spanning decades, you watch Venba try to preserve her culture while her son Kavin tries to fit in — and the two can't hear each other. (No spoilers, but bring tissues.) [i]Fun fact: this game won indie gaming's "Oscar," yet half its reviews are "gorgeous art and music" and the other half are "why am I crying over steamed rice cakes at 2am."[/i] [hr][/hr] [h2]🎮 Guide: 100% Achievements & Cooking Without Disaster[/h2] [h3]① The core cooking-puzzle logic[/h3] [list] []The recipe is written in [b]Tamil[/b] — [b]you're not supposed to read it[/b]. Nobody can. Stop squinting. []Real hints are hidden in [b]dialogue and speech bubbles[/b]; mom "accidentally" blurts out each step. []Controls are [b]click + drag[/b]: add, stir, flip. Puzzles are light, trial-and-error is free. []Stuck? [b]Open the Steam Guides[/b] — there are illustrated walkthroughs. This game doesn't deserve your rage. [/list] [h3]② Achievement speedrun plan (~1.5–2.2h)[/h3] [table] [tr][th]Type[/th][th]Difficulty[/th][th]Tip[/th][/tr] [tr][td]Story completion[/td][td]Trivial[/td][td]Just finish all 7 chapters[/td][/tr] [tr][td]"Perfect cooking"[/td][td]Careful[/td][td]Some achievements require [b]zero mistakes[/b] — [b]read a guide BEFORE touching the pan[/b] or you'll replay the chapter[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Chapter cleanup[/td][td]Easy[/td][td]Use [b]chapter select[/b] after beating the game to mop up missed ones[/td][/tr] [/table] [b]Golden rule: guide first, cook second.[/b] Don't worry — there's no "dark cuisine" penalty. Worst case, the food burns and mom sighs. [h3]③ Bonus loot[/h3] [list] [*]Beating the game [b]unlocks a full book of real Indian recipes[/b]. Most players agree this is secretly the best part — buy a game, get a cookbook. [/list] [hr][/hr] [h2]👍 The Praise vs 👎 The Roast[/h2] [table] [tr][th]👍 Loved[/th][th]👎 Complained[/th][/tr] [tr][td]Gorgeous hand-drawn art, gorgeous Indian soundtrack[/td][td]Too short — done in 1.5 hours[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Real, gut-punching immigrant/family story[/td][td]Ending feels rushed / overly tidy[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Free real recipes as a bonus[/td][td]Low cooking-to-story ratio; go play Overcooked if you want actual cooking[/td][/tr] [tr][td]IGF award, serious indie cred[/td][td]No official Chinese/other localization for some[/td][/tr] [/table] [i]In short: this is an emotion-driven game, not a mechanics-driven one. Come expecting a warm-and-sad story, you'll feel like you won the lottery. Come expecting to learn Indian cooking, you'll feel catfished.[/i] [hr][/hr] [h2]🏆 Final Score & Buy Advice[/h2] [list] [][b]Buy it[/b] if you like narrative games, can handle a 1–2 hour bite-sized story, or have immigrant / "leaving home" / generational-gap feelings. It will snipe you. [][b]Wait for a sale[/b] — at its discount price it's basically a steal. [*][b]Skip it[/b] if you want gameplay depth, real cooking, or are allergic to emotional manipulation. [/list] [b]My score: 8/10[/b] (art & music are 10/10, minus 1 for length, minus 1 for localization gaps). [quote=Final honest note]This game made me call my mom at midnight. Was it worth it? My mom said, "You've been gaming too much, kid." Worth every cent.[/quote] [hr][/hr]
Venba is a really beautiful experience from start to finish. The art style is honestly one of the first things that pulled me in — it’s warm, expressive, and feels like every frame has intention behind it. It’s simple, but in a way that makes it even more powerful. The story hit me in a really genuine way. It feels personal, grounded, and human, and I ended up caring a lot more about the characters than I expected going in. It’s not loud or dramatic for the sake of it, it’s just real in a quiet way that slowly builds up. There wasn’t a single thing I disliked about the game. Also kind of funny, but I actually got hungry while playing it — the food looks that good. I even streamed it to a friend of mine who’s from India, and she was genuinely really happy seeing dishes she recognized and grew up with, which made the whole experience feel even more special. It’s a short game, but it leaves a lasting impression. Really glad I played it.
与其说是做饭游戏，更多觉得是一个带着做饭元素、讨论移民与本土文化的视觉小说游戏。 画风非常精致，音乐是印度本土风格，食谱也是选自印度当地美食，三者很好的融合在了一起，是一场不错的视觉盛宴。（但是为啥你们本土的路边摊就是“干净又卫生”啊？这不是能好好做料理的吗。。。） 剧中讨论了移民带来的文化冲击、文化认同、自身的归属感，但没有大道理阐述，只是通过Venba一家的日常生活呈现出来。父母坚持保留对本国文化的认同和自豪，穿传统服饰、吃传统食物、说家乡语言，而作为移民二代的儿子kalvin却为了防止被同学朋友认出自己是“小印度”，坚持不说家族语言、不吃传统食物、迎合新新事物，甚至有段时间很少归家，不愿面对父母。 以小见大，这个问题不光是印度移民，很多地方或许多少也有类似的情况发生。当自身的信仰和传统受到来自外部新环境的冲击，你是否还能坚守本心，坚定且自豪的喊出自己的国籍与身份呢？ 全流程比较短，共7个章节，估计2小时左右就能通关。但是如果想打全成就，时间就直接加倍了，有几个成就感觉还是有点麻烦的，我个人就懒得打了。建议感兴趣的小伙伴们等一波折扣再入手
I really loved this game. I cried playing it. Im keeping it downloaded just to keep all the recipes. I recommend it to anyone who loves food and good story telling. <3
Nunca olvides el poder del tikka masala, la especia que nos une
Very touching and relatable. Nothing I write here will be unique, everyone's already praising the points I wanted to. I guess I'll just leave a suggestion to localize this into Tamil, Hindi and Marathi maybe? And definitely consider adding Tamil/Tanglish audio if possible in the future. Please make more games! <3
A relaxing cooking game with beautiful art and “puzzles” just light enough to stir your brain a bit, the story of Venba is probably relatable to a lot of kids who grew up with immigrant parents, and will surely make you call your mom after and tell her that you love her. As a second-generation immigrant, my parents also gave up everything to give me what they thought was a better life in Canada. The challenges that Kavin faces while growing up, and his desire to stray away from his Tamil identity is a story that I am familiar with. While I actually had the opposite problem growing up (refusing to speak English, my parents wanting to assimilate me into Canadian culture, not giving me a Chinese name on purpose etc), Kavin’s story is one I’ve heard many times from others, in particular with the generation after mine (Gen-Z), and one that I’ve seen in my younger cousins. It’s a bit short, but to all my second-gen Canadians out there, this game is for us. Embrace both your Canadian and foreign identities - that’s what living in Canada is all about.
I love this game so much. The cooking is so heckin therapeutic and it's such a pretty game to look at. The food in this game looks insanely good. Loved the story as well.
Players by region
Where this game's players are, estimated from review languages.
Players also reviewed
The games this title's players most often review too — audience affinity.
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