Media Arts & Sciences and East Asian Languages & Cultures major
I am a game designer, developer, composer, and storyteller. My work lives at the intersection of emotion, narrative, system, and sound. I aim to create games that prompt players to reconsider, even if just for a moment, concepts they previously took for granted. Video games are a uniquely effective storytelling medium because players are not just passively watching the narrative unfold - they are driving it in real time. I want each player to come away with an experience responsive to their actions, shaped by their choices, and unquestionably, uniquely theirs.
I'm inspired by games like Celeste, Papers, Please, and Consume Me - and by the indie development teams behind them who are unflinchingly committed to exploring vulnerabilities and ethics, even if it means deviating from the norm. Like them, I'm committed to telling personal and political stories - crafting nuanced gameplay spaces for growing, unlearning, and reimagining.
video game
Jewett Sculpture Court
At Wellesley, there is a misconception that we are immune to misinformation. That we are too looped into social media's flows, too in-the-know, too discerning, too liberal, too conscious, too whatever to fall into its jaws. I wish that were the case.
Chime In! is not just a game about political misinformation. It's about personal agency, complacency, and the ways opinions are formed. People act with their hearts - and they must. It is emotion - hope, rage, or grief - not fact, which compels action. I seek not to question that.
Misinformation, crucially, needs strong emotion to spread. It is that split second of fear or conviction that gets people talking and rethinking. Chime In! is designed to make players think more critically about the lasting effects of media consumption. It shows that what a single person puts into the world can influence public perspectives, and encourages players to be more mindful of what they choose to espouse. It is about rabbit holes and mob mentality and how quickly falsehoods can spiral out of control. It is a call to reflect, to listen, and to speak with intention in our increasingly cluttered media landscape.
to see more work by Janavi: janavi.padala.org
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