Me at USC!

Me at USC presenting our award-winning board game Alpha Male

The drawing a GMG camper made of me

My secret double life!

Did you know that many peoples' first exposure to programming is through Minecraft?

Hi, I'm Claire Thananopavarn, and I believe in the power of video games to teach. My first video game, Froggy Multiplication, was created to address pandemic learning inequalities, and it won runner-up in my district's Congressional App Challenge. But even non-educational games can teach! On Steam alone, players log 38 billion hours in a typical year. Hours of life in a virtual world informs our view of the real one, with the choices we make and the people we talk to. That's why I joined Girls Make Games to encourage underrepresented voices to join the industry.

As a Computer Science Games major at the University of Southern California, I've learned so much, and I try to pass on my knowledge. I've taught at Girls Make Games, made two educational browser games, worked on computational science education tools, and even coached gymnastics! (I have a secret double life as a stunt performer).

Minecraft first taught me to program, and now it's time for me to pay it forward. As a gameplay programmer, I want to use my talents for good, creating games for people to enjoy and learn from. Check out my contact page, and let's team up!