Pariah Interactive is an independent games and XR development studio based in Brooklyn, New York that creates surreal experiences about real life. Founded by Prashast Thapan in 2019, Pariah Interactive works with contemporary artists and organizations to transform often untold narratives, histories, and mythologies into digital immersive experiences for wider audiences.
Pariah’s current in-house production is 1000 Deaths, a 3D-platformer video game about confronting interpersonal conflicts.
The word ‘pariah’ is largely understood to mean “an outcast”. These are the stories we set out to tell: stories of people who have historically not belonged and gone unheard. Stories from the fringes. Our stories.
Pariah, a word we embraced in 2019, was co-opted into the English language through British colonialism. Its etymology is a part of India’s bleak caste system. While we celebrate what pariah means to us, we do not want to strip it of its history— uncomfortable as it may be. Though language is ever-evolving, it is important to us that we acknowledge those adversely affected by the word we now carry as our own.
Our hope is the narratives we build bring joy, visibility, and fulfilment to those who have always existed on the margins. We deserve to be seen and heard. Our stories deserve to be told.