Venba invites you into a welcoming home where food is love—and family can be messy. As South Indian immigrants Venba and Paavalan start a new life in Canada, they worry about losing touch with their Tamil roots, especially when their son, Kavin, begins craving pizza more than puttu.

Playing as Venba (and eventually Kavin), use a battered family recipe book to cook mouthwatering dishes in puzzles that blend perfectly with the illustrated story of love and loss. Try to figure out firsthand how to layer rice and savory beef gravy in biryani, or when to add shallots and tomatoes to the pot for a perfectly tangy chicken rasam.

What we love: The touching tale of a family doing their best to adapt. Through its portrayal of tokenism, discrimination, and the struggle to adapt to a new culture, Venba serves up an authentic look at the immigrant experience—one that’s relatable, revelatory, and sometimes heartbreaking.

Quick tip: Whenever you successfully complete a dish, a detailed recipe for it will be added to the cookbook accessible from the main menu screen. Now you can sample your creations in real life!

Meet the creator: Toronto-based Visai Games focuses on telling intimate stories in interesting ways. Creative director Abhi Swaminathan drew inspiration from his own life while crafting Venba; the music on the in-game radio pays tribute to different eras of Tamil cinema.