'Dosa Divas' Is a ‘Spicy’ New Game About Fighting Capitalism With Food

As protestors faced off against ICE agents and law enforcement in Los Angeles, game developers gathered just a few miles away for Summer Game Fest. They’d come to the annual show in early June to show off their games and make professional connections. The team at Outerloop Games was no different. But the studio, led and staffed by brown and Black developers, many of whom are immigrants themselves, had extra precautions to consider: “In case of an ICE raid,” says game director Chandana Ekanayake of the team’s plan at the time, “we're gonna stay together.” Whether that meant at the event itself, or even dinner after, the team kept track of each other for the entire event.

Outerloop, creator of Thirsty Suitors and Falcon Age, were at the event to show off their newest project, a “spicy” narrative turn-based RPG called Dosa Divas due out in early 2026.

As the Trump administration carries out mass deportations, targets visas, disappears migrants into a foreign megaprison, and tweets “ASMR” videos of people being deported in chains from the official White House account, Outerloop is making games that find ways to connect people to different cultures through food. “That's the most accepted version of ourselves or of culture, is food,” Ekanayake says. “People are definitely willing to try food before they're willing to accept the people that make it.”

Outerloop’s games have always featured food in some capacity, and Dosa Divas only ramps up its importance. Named for dosas, savory crepes popular in South India, the game stars two sisters fighting against an evil fast food empire, literally; characters in its turn-based combat have unique abilities associated with different “flavor profiles,” like sweet, spicy, or sour. To attack effectively, you need to match moves to the enemy’s flavor craving.

Dosa Divas centers around three sisters—Samara, Amani, and fast food entrepreneur, Lina—the last of which has become estranged after their family restaurant closes down. Lina’s quick cuisine has become so widespread that nobody really cooks anymore.

Ekanayake says that part of the game’s story is about reconciliation and reconnection, especially through food. Collecting ingredients and cooking plays an important role in the game. By sharing meals with villagers, players can help repair communities and build their own reputation.

Much like Thirsty Suitors, Outerloop’s previous game, Dosa Divas is set in a colorful, vibrant world that mixes fantastical elements with the everyday. In Thirsty Suitors, heroine Jala battled her exes in over-the-top fight sequences, skateboarded, and tried to make peace with her parents. Dosa Divas adds a giant mech to the mix who helps the sisters beat up lawyers.

Early reactions to the game are positive, with critics praising the game’s humor, esthetics, and flavor-themed battles. Summer Game Fest had “many games set in spooky or dystopian locales that made for a weekend filled with lots of dark, shadowy worlds that felt largely devoid of color,” wrote ScreenRant. “After so much gray, to come across a bright color palette and such a visually-appealing art style in the game felt so inviting.” RPGFan said “its combat felt intuitive, its writing was witty.”

Ekanayake says he’s already heard from one fan with a 10-year-old son; the family had just eaten dosas the night before, and his kid was thrilled to see a little part of his life on screen. “Food brings people together,” Ekanayake says. It’s easily shared and introduced to people, even cultural neophytes, allowing anyone to easily experience life outside of their own. “Meal time and eating for a lot of cultures is also community bonding time,” he says. “There's a sense of cultural history and tradition brought down from generation to generation. There's some pride in that too.”

Outerloop’s team includes people who come from regions like South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Palestine, so their games include a lot of what Ekanayake calls immigrant dishes. “In Seattle,” he says, “we still have an ethnic aisle in the grocery store—which is ridiculous to me because white people have ethnicity too.” Games, sometimes, can feel the same way. “I think there's still a stigma—that is a brown game, or a Black game,” he says. “You can make the best thing you can possibly make, but it still gets associated in the same way.”

Even well-meaning observers fall into comments that feel othering. “A lot of white folks that come up to me like, ‘oh, what you're doing is so brave,’” he says. “I cringe every time someone says that to me … I want the game to stand on its own. Yes, it has the cultural aspects, but also, is it a good game? Do you enjoy it? Tell me that.”

Ekanayake says that there’s a commonality to immigrant experiences in the US, cultural aspects that Outerloop tries to get across in their games. Now, that goal is more important than ever. Growing hostility towards people of color under the Trump administration is making even an annual game event a place to be on guard. “We talk about different local laws and issues depending on where folks are, and how to stay safe,” Ekanayake says. “Especially since the start of 2025.”

Even as a naturalized citizen, he’s not entirely comfortable with leaving and re-entering the US right now, whether it’s to see family or attend gaming events like Gamescom in Germany. He says it’s the first time since 9/11 where he’s questioned, “Am I putting my family in danger, am I putting my employees in danger? Do I have to think about what I say or where I travel? That's definitely a concern right now.”

But coming back from LA, Ekanayake says he feels invigorated by the work he and his teammates do. “I feel even stronger about making sure that we keep telling stories and sharing experiences and trying to humanize Black and brown culture and experiences,” he says. “It’s fucking weird and also the silliest thing to call it woke when this is who we are. It's our experiences. This nation is founded on immigration and immigrants.”