As protestors confronted off towards ICE brokers and regulation enforcement in Los Angeles, recreation builders gathered just some miles away for Summer time Sport Fest. They’d come to the annual present in early June to point out off their video games and make skilled connections. The group at Outerloop Video games was no totally different. However the studio, led and staffed by brown and Black builders, a lot of whom are immigrants themselves, had further precautions to think about: “In case of an ICE raid,” says recreation director Chandana Ekanayake of the group’s plan on the time, “we’re gonna keep collectively.” Whether or not that meant on the occasion itself, and even dinner after, the group saved observe of one another for your entire occasion.
Outerloop, creator of Thirsty Suitors and Falcon Age, have been on the occasion to point out off their latest venture, a “spicy” narrative turn-based RPG referred to as Dosa Divas due out in early 2026.
Because the Trump administration carries out mass deportations, targets visas, disappears migrants right into a foreign megaprison, and tweets “ASMR” movies of individuals being deported in chains from the official White House account, Outerloop is making video games that discover methods to attach folks to totally different cultures by way of meals. “That is essentially the most accepted model of ourselves or of tradition, is meals,” Ekanayake says. “Individuals are undoubtedly prepared to strive meals earlier than they’re prepared to just accept the people who make it.”
Outerloop’s video games have at all times featured meals in some capability, and Dosa Divas solely ramps up its significance. Named for dosas, savory crepes fashionable in South India, the sport stars two sisters combating towards an evil quick meals empire, actually; characters in its turn-based fight have distinctive skills related to totally different “taste profiles,” like candy, spicy, or bitter. To assault successfully, you should match strikes to the enemy’s taste craving.
Dosa Divas facilities round three sisters—Samara, Amani, and quick meals entrepreneur, Lina—the final of which has develop into estranged after their household restaurant closes down. Lina’s fast delicacies has develop into so widespread that no person actually cooks anymore.
Ekanayake says that a part of the sport’s story is about reconciliation and reconnection, particularly by way of meals. Amassing elements and cooking performs an necessary function within the recreation. By sharing meals with villagers, gamers may also help restore communities and construct their very own status.
Very similar to Thirsty Suitors, Outerloop’s earlier recreation, Dosa Divas is about in a colourful, vibrant world that mixes fantastical parts with the on a regular basis. In Thirsty Suitors, heroine Jala battled her exes in over-the-top struggle sequences, skateboarded, and tried to make peace together with her mother and father. Dosa Divas provides a large mech to the combination who helps the sisters beat up legal professionals.
Early reactions to the sport are optimistic, with critics praising the sport’s humor, esthetics, and flavor-themed battles. Summer time Sport Fest had “many video games set in spooky or dystopian locales that made for a weekend full of plenty of darkish, shadowy worlds that felt largely devoid of coloration,” wrote ScreenRant. “After a lot grey, to return throughout a brilliant coloration palette and such a visually-appealing artwork fashion within the recreation felt so inviting.” RPGFan said “its fight felt intuitive, its writing was witty.”
