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<v Speaker 1>Being a woman in Stem being Latina, it felt really isolating.

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<v Speaker 1>I was one of a handful of women in my year,

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<v Speaker 1>and it felt like every year the women were put

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<v Speaker 1>against each other in comparison, and it was hard to

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<v Speaker 1>find connections with people when you're constantly being pushed to compete.

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<v Speaker 2>From Fudura Media and PRX. It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria

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<v Speaker 2>Rosa today, Samantha Ortiz, I'm telling personal stories through video games.

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<v Speaker 2>Samantha Ortiz thinks about her childhood often it's the everyday

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<v Speaker 2>smells around her that triggers certain memories, especially those at

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<v Speaker 2>her grandparents' houses.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you ever like smell like a perfume or certain

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<v Speaker 1>scent and it just it's like takes you back. I

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<v Speaker 1>have that with a specific perfume, and I'll smell that

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<v Speaker 1>perfume and it'll just take me back to visiting my

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<v Speaker 1>grandma and my grandpa.

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<v Speaker 2>She remembers making tamalis on the brown dining room table

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<v Speaker 2>they set up in the backyard next to the kitchen,

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<v Speaker 2>grabbing a piece of bandulse from the cake stand on

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<v Speaker 2>the countertop.

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<v Speaker 1>When I think about the positive aspects of my life,

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<v Speaker 1>they're definitely tied to my grandparents a lot.

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<v Speaker 2>Samantha grew up in Houston, Texas. Her mother is a

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<v Speaker 2>first generation Mexican immigrant and her father is Puerto Rican.

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<v Speaker 1>Both of my grandparents fantastic chefs. Like the best food

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<v Speaker 1>you ever eat right is cooked for your grandma, and

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<v Speaker 1>I could say that for both sides of the family.

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<v Speaker 3>She spent her childhood enjoying that food.

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<v Speaker 2>On Saturdays, she'd visit her grandma Eva to eat the

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<v Speaker 2>Puerto Rican food. She'd make a ros bongandulis and banadastones.

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<v Speaker 2>Then on Sundays she spent them with her mom's side

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<v Speaker 2>of the family at her grandma Juanita's house. There, the

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<v Speaker 2>menu included homemade Mexican food in chiladas, tacos, and fresh

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<v Speaker 2>made flower tortillas.

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<v Speaker 3>The whole point of food is for it to be enjoyed.

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<v Speaker 2>Samantha is using those memories to bring life to her

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<v Speaker 2>work as an independent video game creator. More than programming

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<v Speaker 2>or the technical aspects of video games, Samantha is interested

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<v Speaker 2>in storytelling. She works as a game writer and narrative

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<v Speaker 2>designer to develop the ways a player experiences the story

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<v Speaker 2>of the game.

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<v Speaker 1>The minimum that I would love to come out of

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<v Speaker 1>someone playing my game is a sense of I understand,

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<v Speaker 1>I understand your story.

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<v Speaker 2>Because historically, the stories of people like Samantha have not

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<v Speaker 2>been told in video games. A recent study of the

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<v Speaker 2>top one hundred video games released in the last five

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<v Speaker 2>years found that only twenty percent of its main characters

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<v Speaker 2>are women, and of those, only eight percent are Black,

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<v Speaker 2>Native Asian or Latiness and this reflects what is happening

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<v Speaker 2>behind the scenes in the gaming industry as well. Women

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<v Speaker 2>make up only twenty four percent of the workforce while

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<v Speaker 2>being forty five percent of the audience for video games.

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<v Speaker 2>So in September of twenty twenty one, Samantha started her

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<v Speaker 2>own gaming company, cow Berry Studios, in order to create

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<v Speaker 2>the games she's wished to see out in the world.

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<v Speaker 2>At twenty five years old, Samantha's career in video games

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<v Speaker 2>is just starting out, but she says she has big

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<v Speaker 2>plans in the works. Here's Samantha Ortis in her own words.

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<v Speaker 1>My name is Smanthorpe. I am a game writer and

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<v Speaker 1>narrative designer, and I live in Texas. It was pretty

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<v Speaker 1>shy as a child. I still am a little shy

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<v Speaker 1>when it comes to interactions with people, but I played

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of games by myself.

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<v Speaker 3>We celebrated through.

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<v Speaker 1>King's Day with my grandma Eva, and we would leave

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<v Speaker 1>our shoes in the entryway and we would leave carrots

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<v Speaker 1>for the donkeys, and then we would go to sleep,

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<v Speaker 1>and then we'd wake up and then there would be

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<v Speaker 1>little treats in our shoes. And we're kids, we have

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<v Speaker 1>tiny shoes. And so my grandma would put little DS

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<v Speaker 1>games or little game Boy games for me, and.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't know how she picked them.

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<v Speaker 1>My mom and dad probably gave her some insight, but

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<v Speaker 1>it was a really easy thing to give me as

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<v Speaker 1>a kid.

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<v Speaker 3>Just give me a game.

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<v Speaker 1>The very first game that I remember is this game

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<v Speaker 1>called Dogs, and you play as a girl who was

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<v Speaker 1>adopting a puppy. You got to take care of this puppy,

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<v Speaker 1>teach it tricks, clean up after it.

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<v Speaker 3>It's so fun. I want to play it again.

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<v Speaker 1>I gave away my DS with my whole thing of games.

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<v Speaker 1>I gave them to my cousin because I was like, Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm growing up now. I don't play games anymore. Like

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<v Speaker 1>adults don't play games. I don't play games. I'm gonna

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<v Speaker 1>focus on college and get into college. At first, I

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<v Speaker 1>came in freshman year, and I wanted to take some

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<v Speaker 1>interesting classes. So I tried computer science, and I tried

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<v Speaker 1>a physics class, and I kept going with computer science

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<v Speaker 1>because the one thing that I really paid attention to

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<v Speaker 1>was what is a major that I can get into

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<v Speaker 1>that I'll feel at least slightly fulfilled, but it'll also

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<v Speaker 1>make my family proud. I think there was so much

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<v Speaker 1>stress and pressure as a first gen college student to

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<v Speaker 1>do really well and to use your degree to make

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<v Speaker 1>money and be successful. Computer science got really hard. I

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<v Speaker 1>really didn't know if I was going to be able

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<v Speaker 1>to graduate with a computer science major because I felt

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<v Speaker 1>shut out being a woman in STEM. Being Latina, it

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<v Speaker 1>felt really isolating. I was one of a handful of

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<v Speaker 1>women in my year, and it felt like every year

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<v Speaker 1>the women were put against each other in comparison. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>who would get the best jobs from this degree, who

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<v Speaker 1>got the best scores? And it was hard to find

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<v Speaker 1>connections with people when you're constantly being pushed to compete.

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<v Speaker 1>My sophomore year, I took a game development class that

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<v Speaker 1>was being taught by a professor who had never worked

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<v Speaker 1>in games professionally, but he had a really big passion

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<v Speaker 1>for it. I really really love those classes and pros

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<v Speaker 1>made me stay in computer science in general. He was

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<v Speaker 1>super uplifting and supportive. It kind of convinced me to

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<v Speaker 1>stay in computer science to get my degree.

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<v Speaker 3>See what happens.

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<v Speaker 1>I graduated from college in May of twenty nineteen. I knew,

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<v Speaker 1>I was solid that programming was not what I loved

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<v Speaker 1>to do.

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<v Speaker 3>I think I'd known.

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<v Speaker 1>That for a while, but I was pushing it back

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<v Speaker 1>because I was like, no, it's practical and it pays

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<v Speaker 1>good money. But I just I knew if I was

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<v Speaker 1>going to be in games, I was going to do

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<v Speaker 1>something focused in narrative, either design or writing. Narrative differn

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<v Speaker 1>games or games into which you feel very connected to

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<v Speaker 1>the character that you're playing, to the people that they're

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<v Speaker 1>in communication with, to the story that they're telling and

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<v Speaker 1>the journey that they're going through. I was really really

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<v Speaker 1>interested in that because of the different ways that you

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<v Speaker 1>could tell a story. Growing up, I was obsessed with

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<v Speaker 1>writing and creating my own stories, and I wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>build that feeling that you get, that connection that you

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<v Speaker 1>get to these characters that come from someone's head like

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<v Speaker 1>that was so fascinating to me, and I really wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to recreate it. There's just so much that goes into

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<v Speaker 1>storytelling in games. Maybe something is really hard to do

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<v Speaker 1>in the game because it's emotionally weighing on the character.

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<v Speaker 3>Maybe it takes a lot more effort.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you have to button mash a lot to do

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<v Speaker 1>a more simple.

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<v Speaker 3>Thing that you think wouldn't be very hard.

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<v Speaker 1>Or do you want it to be really easy because

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<v Speaker 1>the characters in a really good mood and they feel

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<v Speaker 1>like they're on top of the world and they could

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<v Speaker 1>do anything. Maybe you can be mean, maybe you can

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<v Speaker 1>be extra nice. In games, there's something there that's concrete

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<v Speaker 1>when you play as the character or you get to

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<v Speaker 1>look around at the environment. I think it allows me

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<v Speaker 1>and it pushes me to be a lot more open

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<v Speaker 1>and creative with myself in the stories that I want

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<v Speaker 1>to tell, which I think is really really powerful. I

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<v Speaker 1>came across the latinx and gaming community fall of twenty twenty.

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<v Speaker 1>There was a culture for me. There was a connection

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<v Speaker 1>to my home. There was a connection that I just

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<v Speaker 1>felt instantly comfortable and warm, and I needed that, especially

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<v Speaker 1>coming from my major where I was put in competition

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<v Speaker 1>with people who were similar to me. Having that community

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<v Speaker 1>there was so affirming to me as a Latina. In games,

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<v Speaker 1>Unidos is there big celebration they have every year where

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<v Speaker 1>they have talks, they have different events going on, and.

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<v Speaker 3>They also have the Unidos Jam.

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<v Speaker 1>A game jam is an event held over a certain

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<v Speaker 1>number of days. Some of them have prizes and a wars,

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<v Speaker 1>but a lot of them are just, you know, to

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<v Speaker 1>have fun. So the LATINX and Unidos twenty twenty Jam

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<v Speaker 1>was held for about three weeks and the theme.

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<v Speaker 3>Was celebration of LATINX culture.

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<v Speaker 1>There are a lot of different things that came to

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<v Speaker 1>my head, but I really wanted to make a game

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<v Speaker 1>about my grandma.

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<v Speaker 3>I love her, So I love both my grandma's so much.

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<v Speaker 1>When I think about culture, big thing that I think

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<v Speaker 1>about is the food that we eat together and.

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<v Speaker 3>That we're eating it together.

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<v Speaker 1>So I wanted to tell a story in a way

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<v Speaker 1>that was different than how I usually told stories.

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<v Speaker 3>I wanted to make it a bit experimental.

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<v Speaker 1>I worked with a bunch of people and we all

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<v Speaker 1>worked together to make this game called Damalesconfamilia, which was

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<v Speaker 1>just like the concept of you as a child unable

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<v Speaker 1>to really contribute to a conversation because you're still a kid,

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<v Speaker 1>and you're just like making theemalis while your family's just talking.

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<v Speaker 3>You press start.

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<v Speaker 1>You have different stations in front of you, so you

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<v Speaker 1>would hold the corn husk in your hand and that's

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<v Speaker 1>like visibly on the screen. And with the other hand,

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<v Speaker 1>you would grab the masa and you'd put it on

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<v Speaker 1>and it would spread, and then you reach and grab

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<v Speaker 1>the filling and then you drag it to your hand,

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<v Speaker 1>which then adds the chicken to it, and then you

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<v Speaker 1>click and does an animation where it rolls and folds,

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<v Speaker 1>and then it gets taken and a tray appears and

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<v Speaker 1>you put it on the tray and then like you

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<v Speaker 1>go again. And while you're repeating this on the lower

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<v Speaker 1>half of your screen, on the upper half, you are

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<v Speaker 1>reading different dialogue from family.

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<v Speaker 4>I cannot believe that Hector didn't show up today with

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<v Speaker 4>his family. It's like he doesn't care that we're trying

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<v Speaker 4>to get together.

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<v Speaker 5>It's like pulling teeth to get half of us here.

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<v Speaker 5>Do you remember when we will show up every Sunday?

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<v Speaker 1>Your passive character in this game, But it's all about

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<v Speaker 1>learning about your family in a really casual way of

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<v Speaker 1>just like talk and gossip.

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<v Speaker 4>Now that Mom's out of the room. Do you really

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<v Speaker 4>think she'd be better in Mexico? All of her children

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<v Speaker 4>and grandchildren are here.

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<v Speaker 5>I mean that build her house there, all our memories

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<v Speaker 5>are there.

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<v Speaker 4>She just doesn't remember things when she's here anymore. It's

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<v Speaker 4>not like we can be here all the time either.

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<v Speaker 1>For this game, I interviewed my mom and I was like, Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>let's chat about what our family talks about. And we

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<v Speaker 1>talked a lot about my grandma, her past, things that

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<v Speaker 1>you bring up often, topics that are really common for

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<v Speaker 1>us to talk about when we came together.

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<v Speaker 4>We're talking about five or more hours of driving just

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<v Speaker 4>to see our mom. What if she needs us in

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<v Speaker 4>the middle of the night, then we go.

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<v Speaker 5>We can hire someone to take care of her every day.

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<v Speaker 5>It will be fine, but we can be selfish by

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<v Speaker 5>not letting her go back to what makes her happy.

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<v Speaker 1>And I love that it turned out to be this

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<v Speaker 1>very organic and natural series of conversations, and it was

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of fun to make. And again, I love

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<v Speaker 1>it with all my heart and I hold it really

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<v Speaker 1>dear me. After UNI those twenty twenty I had so

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<v Speaker 1>much fun. I knew I wanted to do it again

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<v Speaker 1>next year. The theme was a story only you can tell.

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<v Speaker 1>And as soon as I heard it, I was like,

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<v Speaker 1>I have to make something. I thought about something that

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<v Speaker 1>makes me very self conscious, which is that Spanish wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>my first language that I learned. I'm not very fluent.

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<v Speaker 1>I can understand it really well because I grew up

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<v Speaker 1>listening to Spanish. But my parents, they didn't teach me

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<v Speaker 1>Spanish as a first language. They taught me English as

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<v Speaker 1>the first language. Because my mom was bullied in school

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<v Speaker 1>because of her accent, and she didn't want me to

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<v Speaker 1>go through that plot twists. Mom, kids are mean, I

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<v Speaker 1>got bullied for many other reasons. She wanted to protect me,

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<v Speaker 1>and my dad wanted to protect me too, So I

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<v Speaker 1>don't I mean, I don't blame them. I completely understand,

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<v Speaker 1>even at my peak of knowing Spanish and being able

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<v Speaker 1>to communicate very well, every time I was put in

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<v Speaker 1>front of my grandma and she would say something, I

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<v Speaker 1>drew a blank and it was just so terrifying. And

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<v Speaker 1>my grandma loves me. I know she doesn't care. I

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<v Speaker 1>know she probably wishes maybe that I could speak with

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<v Speaker 1>her fluently, but she loves me either way.

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<v Speaker 3>But still I wanted so.

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<v Speaker 1>Badly to feel the verbal connection that you have when

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<v Speaker 1>you're able to speak with someone who speaks your language.

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<v Speaker 1>And so that's where the idea for Comunegacion came, is

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<v Speaker 1>that I wanted to tell that story.

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<v Speaker 3>Es.

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<v Speaker 6>Yes, you say shyly, You give a quick hug and

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<v Speaker 6>kiss to your abuelo, your abuela holding onto your hand

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<v Speaker 6>the whole time. Yeah, your grandmother looks up at you.

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<v Speaker 6>You stare into her eyes, hoping to find something to

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<v Speaker 6>help you decipher what she just said.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just dialogue, so it's a plain background with just

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<v Speaker 1>texts on the screen. You'll see like a word highlighted

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<v Speaker 1>in a different color than the rest of the text,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's clickable and if you click on that, it'll

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<v Speaker 1>either unlock more dialogue on the same screen, or it'll

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<v Speaker 1>take you to the next screen where there's like a

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<v Speaker 1>whole other set of dialogue.

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<v Speaker 6>Awalita holds her hands out for your mother and speaks

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<v Speaker 6>in the same sweet tune. Your mother turns to you.

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<v Speaker 5>Grandma says, she asks you a question, and you just

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<v Speaker 5>stare at her.

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<v Speaker 6>You feel your cheeks flush.

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<v Speaker 3>It was very cathartic.

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<v Speaker 1>I cried a lot while writing it, putting myself back

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<v Speaker 1>in that situation, you know, but it was a great

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<v Speaker 1>way for me to feel connected to my grandma. I

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<v Speaker 1>guess that's another way that nonverbally i'd connect with her

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<v Speaker 1>is through games. Something that always held me back in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of making games was that I was afraid of

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<v Speaker 1>making something people wouldn't like.

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<v Speaker 3>I didn't know.

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<v Speaker 1>If it was going to be well received. I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>know if anyone was going to relate to it. And

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people did. They were like, Wow, this

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<v Speaker 1>really made me understand this a lot more, which was nice,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was also validating that I can still make

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<v Speaker 1>something on my own and it can still be really

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<v Speaker 1>personal to me and it can still connect with other

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<v Speaker 1>people as well.

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<v Speaker 3>That kind of.

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<v Speaker 1>Kickstarted my confidence in telling stories and games that were

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<v Speaker 1>a little closer to my heart. For me, I want

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<v Speaker 1>to take my company, Calbary Studios, and turn it into

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<v Speaker 1>a brand. I want to put my games under it.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to be an entity, and I think I

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<v Speaker 1>have great stories to tell and I want to bring

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<v Speaker 1>on people who also have great stories to tell. And

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<v Speaker 1>I want to build and foster a place in a

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<v Speaker 1>studio that has fun and tells like these really heartwarming stories.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just me right now because I don't have employees.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't have anyone that's working.

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<v Speaker 3>With you right now. That's like my dream for the future.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm currently working on a game about coming back after

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<v Speaker 1>my grandfather passed away and feeling the heavy difference in

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<v Speaker 1>the house and seeing all of the changes and just

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<v Speaker 1>seeing the home in a completely different light, and wanting

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<v Speaker 1>to make my grandmother feel okay again, and helping her

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<v Speaker 1>find herself after my grandfather and help her feel uncomfortable

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<v Speaker 1>and feel like her own person. I wanted to be

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<v Speaker 1>a full game, like I'm actively chasing publishers. I'm actively

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<v Speaker 1>chasing I want to make this into as big of

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<v Speaker 1>a game as like any other project, which is shooting

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<v Speaker 1>for the stars. But also I feel like I don't

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<v Speaker 1>see a lot of stories of grandmother, granddaughter, LATINX culture,

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<v Speaker 1>Like I don't see a lot of those in the limelight,

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<v Speaker 1>and I wanted to tell that story. And you know what,

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<v Speaker 1>it might fail, hopefully it succeeds.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm gonna work my.

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<v Speaker 1>Butt off and it's gonna fail or it's gonna succeed,

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<v Speaker 1>but I'm gonna try my hardest and I'm not gonna

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<v Speaker 1>change anything for it. Like I'm gonna keep it core

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<v Speaker 1>to myself. I'm gonna tell a story I want to tell,

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<v Speaker 1>and if it connects with people, it connects with people,

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<v Speaker 1>and I hope it does.

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<v Speaker 2>That was Samantha Orti's game writer and narrative designer. Both

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<v Speaker 2>Da malisk And Familia and Go Monicacion are available online

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<v Speaker 2>to play for free. This episode was produced by Victoria

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<v Speaker 2>Stradra and edited by Daisy Contreras. It was mixed by

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<v Speaker 2>gabriel A Bias and JJ Carubin. The La TiO Usa

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<v Speaker 2>team includes Andrea Lopez Gruzado, Marta Martinez, Mike Sargent, Julieta Martinelli,

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<v Speaker 2>Rinaldo Leanos, Junior Alejandra Sarrassard, Patricia Ulvarand and Julia Rocha,

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<v Speaker 2>with help from Raoul Perez. Our editorial director is Fernanda Santos.

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<v Speaker 2>Our director of Engineering is Stephanie Lebau. Our senior engineer

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<v Speaker 2>is Julia Caruso. Our marketing manager is Luis Luna. Our

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<v Speaker 2>New York Women's Foundation Big Night Fellow is Elizabeth Lowet

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<v Speaker 2>Val Torres. Our theme music was composed by Sean Ruinos,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Your Host and executive producer Marienno Rosa join us

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<v Speaker 2>again on our next episode, and remember you can find

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<v Speaker 2>us on all of your social media and where that

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<v Speaker 2>Stella Proxima Joe.

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<v Speaker 7>Latino USA is made possible in part by W. K.

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<v Speaker 7>Kellogg Foundation, a partner with Communities where Children Come First,

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<v Speaker 7>the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Hispanics and philanthropy.

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<v Speaker 1>And then sometimes she would make besteak and I would

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<v Speaker 1>eat that too. It was just amazing. This is a

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<v Speaker 1>food podcast.

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<v Speaker 3>Now we're just