‘Dosa Divas’ Is a ‘Spicy’ New Sport About Preventing Capitalism With Meals
As protestors confronted off towards ICE brokers and legislation enforcement in Los Angeles, recreation builders gathered just some miles away for Summer season Sport Fest. They’d come to the annual present in early June to point out off their video games and make skilled connections. The workforce at Outerloop Video games was no completely different. However the studio, led and staffed by brown and Black builders, lots of whom are immigrants themselves, had further precautions to contemplate: “In case of an ICE raid,” says recreation director Chandana Ekanayake of the workforce’s plan on the time, “we’re gonna keep collectively.” Whether or not that meant on the occasion itself, and even dinner after, the workforce 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 challenge, a “spicy” narrative turn-based RPG known as Dosa Divas due out in early 2026.
Because the Trump administration carries out mass deportations, targets visas, disappears migrants right into a international megaprison, and tweets “ASMR” movies of individuals being deported in chains from the official White Home account, Outerloop is making video games that discover methods to attach individuals to completely different cultures by means of meals. “That is essentially the most accepted model of ourselves or of tradition, is meals,” Ekanayake says. “Individuals are positively keen to attempt meals earlier than they’re keen to simply accept the those that 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 well-liked in South India, the sport stars two sisters preventing towards an evil quick meals empire, actually; characters in its turn-based fight have distinctive talents related to completely different “taste profiles,” like candy, spicy, or bitter. To assault successfully, you want to 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 change into estranged after their household restaurant closes down. Lina’s fast delicacies has change into so widespread that no one actually cooks anymore.
Ekanayake says that a part of the sport’s story is about reconciliation and reconnection, particularly by means of meals. Accumulating elements and cooking performs an necessary function within the recreation. By sharing meals with villagers, gamers may help restore communities and construct their very own fame.
Very like Thirsty Suitors, Outerloop’s earlier recreation, Dosa Divas is ready in a colourful, vibrant world that mixes fantastical components 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 along with her mother and father. Dosa Divas provides a large mech to the combination who helps the sisters beat up attorneys.
Early reactions to the sport are optimistic, with critics praising the sport’s humor, esthetics, and flavor-themed battles. Summer season Sport Fest had “many video games set in spooky or dystopian locales that made for a weekend crammed with plenty of darkish, shadowy worlds that felt largely devoid of coloration,” wrote ScreenRant. “After a lot grey, to return throughout a vivid coloration palette and such a visually-appealing artwork type within the recreation felt so inviting.” RPGFan mentioned “its fight felt intuitive, its writing was witty.”