The video game space can be broken down into ‘normative’ creators and ‘divergent’ gamers: normative referring to white and Asian bodies that dominate the game industry while divergent refers to black and brown bodies that consume the media. Paradise Abyss aims to investigate & critique the medium under the Black Cyberfeminist critique and re-examines the challenges that women of colour gamers continue to experience today.

Paradise Abyss: The Game is a retro platform game which features an Afro-Latinx gamer and her experiences on & offline. As I am a part of the normative –being Indian– and the divergent –being queer & female– it was important to consciously collaborate with my participants to create an experience that expanded beyond simply adding diversity into the medium. I collaborated with another normative/divergent developer, Danny Dang, and a divergent gamer, Desiree Rodriguez-St Plice to create Paradise Abyss.

The player takes control of our main girl, Doki, to survive the monsters that stand in her way. In this world there are three planes: Paradise Skies, Material Ground, and Abyssal Caves.

On Paradise Skies, her safe space, Doki can replenish her health and receive magical mana to shoot the monsters by either collecting stars or allies. If she meets an ally she receives a temporary power-up for 10 seconds where the ally accompanies her to defeat the monsters.

On Material Ground, her daily life, she has to survive by defeating monsters like the ghostly K3 or Catler, personifications of racism and catcallers.

In the Abyssal Caves, her online self, she has to defeat the Trolls and Stinger who charge after her. The goal of the game is to survive as long as possible with the help of her safe space and allies