STORY BY NICOLE IUZZOLINO
ILLUSTRATION BY GEORGIA REIDY
Erin Alvarico has never been a stranger to the digital age.
Her father introduced Erin and her older sister to the world of gaming at an early age. They constantly played their Playstation and DS’s down in their basement; spending hours on end in other mystical worlds. These basement adventures began to brew Erin’s love for computers, digital art, and gaming as a career path.
Erin constantly experimented with different animations, always trying to hone her craft. She was also a dancer and competed in gymnastics in high school, but she “always had time to make videos and do wacky things that just came up in my imagination, and I wanted to share that with the world.”
Her older sister, Nicole, was right there beside her, pushing Erin to succeed. When Erin was creating her first game, Symphony, she explained how Nicole would help her organize her thoughts and make sure the storyline of the game played smoothly.
Nicole strongly encouraged Erin to submit her game to Girls Make Games, a fellowship with LearnDistrict Inc. “She said to me, ‘It’s okay, just do your best,’ and she was there holding my hand all along the way.”
Erin was one of five chosen to fly to San Francisco to publish her game through the Google Play store. Launched in February 2019, Symphony currently has more than 10,000 downloads. While at Girls Make Games, she also inspired future game developers, overseeing groups of four girls working on their first two-dimensional “infinite runner” games (think Temple Run or Subway Surfers).
Symphony is about a young girl who is next in line to fill her world-renowned, violinist-grandfather’s shoes after he has fallen very ill. The young girl is in his home where she took all her lessons, and finds a music score he was working on for an upcoming performance. All of the papers magically fly out the window which leads this young girl on an adventure to collect all the music sheets. After all the sheets are collected, the world is restored to color and happiness.
The ability to share her imagination through making games like Symphony and her love for technology prompted Erin to pursue a dual major in Computer Science and Games and Emerging Media at Marist College.
On campus, Erin maintains her love for dance and gymnastics as a Marist cheerleader. The club that she is most proud of belonging to is Game Society. The club branches off into subcommittees for people that love specific games or types of games. Erin is the president of the sub-committee Marist Virtual Reality (VR). Attendees get to play new games with this innovative technology, and face-off in competitions. Players are matched with others based on skill level. The winners move onto the next level and compete against stronger players. Erin’s work with virtual reality has drawn many new members.
When not at Game Society, Erin replaces her VR gear with her own personalized headset, ready to entertain her eager fans online as “Nezuyaki”. She frequently creates content on Twitch, the popular video game streaming service. She wanted to stream for the longest time, and just started taking it seriously this winter. “It was a dream of mine to someday be a Twitch or Youtube star. I wanted to make content that made people happy.” She tackled it head on, and was really surprised as to how many people enjoyed her content. “I would get messages saying, ‘I can’t wait to see your next stream’ , or, ‘You always make me so happy to watch you play games and talk to you,” and, ‘I love your art I can’t wait to see your next episode.’ It really fulfills me.”
Besides her sister Nicole, Erin expressed how supportive her mother has been when it came to her future career path and pursuing her many passions. Erin states that her mom always seems to know the right thing to say, even when others are doubting her next move. She explains how many people are hesitant to take the next step creatively with her, but she always wants to grow alongside friends and collaborators.
“She always tells me that I should not be following the crowd, but to always look forward because she knows I will tackle any obstacle head on, and if I fall I wouldn’t be afraid to try again.” Erin thanked her mother, father, and sister repeatedly for being her emotional and physical help, especially when it came to their help with her game Symphony and the Change the Game Initiative.
One of Erin’s biggest dreams is to start her own gaming company named Kuneho Studios. The word comes from her native tongue, Tagalog, an Austronesian language. Kuneho translates to rabbit, which holds a special meaning in Erin’s heart.
“Kuneho was a nickname for dad when he was younger, and he is the main reason I started to like video games in the first place.” That one word, Kuneho, is her way to not only fulfill her own dream, but her family's dreams for her too.
To view the full portrait, click here »
Feedback Center: Have a question for our writers or team? Ask it here »