Project involvement: Animation, coding, concept design, and visual design.
There are many different versions of the Indian epic of Ramayana. The dominant interpretation of the epic portrays Ram as a noble king and Ravan as his arch-nemesis. Some lesser-known versions of Ramayana flip Ram and Ravan's roles, depicting Ravan as the protagonist, the just king of Lanka. Serving the Hindu right, the dominant variant of the epic produces a simplistic, binary opposition between good and evil, the Hindus and non-Hindus. Ravayana (Ravan + Ramayayana) encourages players to experience the epic from Ram and Ravana’s perspectives. A player takes turns playing as Ram and Ravan. If they score more points as Ram, they become Ram and the AI becomes Ravan during the final battle between Ram and Ravan. The player and the AI switch roles if the player scores more points as Ravan. The visual style developed for the game blends Mario brothers and Mughal miniature painting. Every element—trees, architecture, characters—is painstakingly created, one pixel at a time, to deliver an engaging experience.
Mughal miniature paintings
Game assets
