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.
Players must carefully follow incomplete or obscured recipe instructions to prepare authentic South Indian dishes. This includes tasks like chopping ingredients, mixing batter, and cooking the dish step-by-step. As players progress, the recipes become more complex, challenging them to rely on their growing knowledge and intuition about the cuisine. Completing a recipe successfully provides a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
The cooking puzzles serve to uncover the protagonist Venba's personal story and connection to the dishes. The way the player cooks - whether smoothly and methodically like Venba, or clumsily and unsurely like her son Kavin - reflects the emotional state and perspective of the character. Completing recipes unlocks optional flavor text that provides more context and insight into Venba's life and relationships.
The game provides helpful hints and the ability to retry failed attempts without penalty, allowing players to progress through the story at their own pace and comfort level. Furthermore, the game offers options to adjust accessibility settings, such as turning off screen shaking effects, ensuring the gameplay remains enjoyable for a wide range of players.