Culture | Hands up, don’t shoot

Some developers are pushing back against violent video games

Gratuitous bloodshed and the rise of female gamers have contributed to a backlash

A still from the video game Venba shows a young son watching his mother cook.
Brandish your weapon—I mean, spoonImage: YoutTube/PlayStation

A Tamil mother, recently immigrated to Canada, stirs biryani. Her young son looks on, sniffing the delectable aromas. This is a scene in Venba, a recently released video game attracting attention. Through a series of cooking puzzles—in which players learn to prepare ingredients in the correct order or work out the various items missing from recipes—it offers an emotionally intense family saga, serving up topics like immigration and identity, alongside Tamil food.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Hands up, don’t shoot”

From the September 2nd 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Culture

An illustration of a stack of books that make up the American flag.

Want to spend time with a different American president?

Five presidential biographies to distract you from the news

Eames House, Chautauqua Drive, Pacific Palisades, California

Los Angeles has lost some of its trailblazing architecture

How will it rebuild?


A worker takes down a sign saying "shareholders", immediately after the UBS General Assembly which followed the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse

What firms are for

The framework for thinking about business and capitalism is hopelessly outdated, argues a new book


Greg Gutfeld, America’s most popular late-night host, rules the airwaves

The left gave him his perch

Why matcha, made from green tea, is the drink of the moment

Is it really a healthy alternative to coffee? Not the way Gen Z orders it