Student Experience
Life Beyond the Redwoods: Samantha Chang at Sunblink
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Samantha (Sammy) Chang (College Nine ’25, art & design: games and playable media) is a marketing and player communications coordinator at Sunblink—a video game development studio based in Boulder, Colorado, best known for creating the critically acclaimed video game ‘Hello Kitty Island Adventure’.
Sammy Chang graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2025 with a degree in Art and Design: Games and Playable Media.
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Samantha (Sammy) Chang (College Nine ’25, art & design: games and playable media) is a marketing and player communications coordinator at Sunblink—a video game development studio based in Boulder, Colorado, best known for creating the critically acclaimed video game Hello Kitty Island Adventure.
Her role focuses on content planning, player announcements, Discord community engagement, social media, and partner relations for Hello Kitty Island Adventure, available on Apple Arcade, Nintendo Switch, Steam, and PlayStation 5. In her role, Chang balances strategic content creation, communication, and operations, building excitement across campaigns, delivering easy-to-understand updates to players, and maintaining community trust across platforms.
“My favorite part is creating little moments of excitement for players,” Chang said. “Whether it is a social post, Discord activity, update announcement, or in-game event, I love knowing something I helped make can make someone smile or feel excited to play!”
Chang credits her experience at UC Santa Cruz for preparing her for a career soon after graduation. She was an outreach officer for the Game Design Art Collaboration club (GDA), co-president of the Taiwanese Student Association, a game development course assistant for COSMOS, and a peer advisor for the Art and Design Games and Playable Media (AGPM) Department.
Chang also completed an independent study where she founded Pufflin Games and served as the producer for Expresso, a visual novel about young adults navigating self-exploration, diversity, empathy, and empowerment. She said the project challenged her both creatively and professionally as a producer, communicator, and team leader.
“Our studio is composed of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, life stages, and perspectives, all united by a shared commitment to building something beautiful together,” she said. “As an indie studio, we are committed to lifting up fellow talents and cultivating a warm atmosphere where everyone feels encouraged and connected.”
The independent study helped her develop her creative process, communication skills, and understanding of how to lead an indie game project.
“Overall, Expresso and Pufflin Games helped me build confidence, strengthen my leadership skills, and take meaningful steps toward breaking into the games industry after college.”
Chang was awarded the Koret Scholarship and Arts Professional Pathways Internship Scholarship while at UC Santa Cruz.
“UC Santa Cruz helped me pursue my path in multiple ways, but I think the biggest one was the people,” Chang said. “UCSC is full of loving and caring lecturers, professors, staff, and fellow students who want to help you and see you succeed. The community is all about building one another up, and wanting to see each other succeed.”
Chang’s experience with GDA was especially pivotal to her development at UC Santa Cruz. As the outreach officer, Chang helped manage a Discord server with over 1,800 members, engaged with the student community, shared opportunities, supported events, and ensured a welcoming space for students interested in games.
“GDA gave me hands-on experience that connected directly to the kind of work I do now,” Chang said. “It taught me how to communicate with a large community, organize information clearly, support creative teams, and help build a space where people felt encouraged to make innovative experiences together.”
Chang’s passion for gaming stems from her early childhood. In elementary school, she was bedridden in the hospital due to a medical condition. Gaming was an escape into a world where she could create and connect.
“During my time in the hospital, I felt isolated from others around my age,” Chang recalled. “Games were something that could connect me to others. Minecraft allowed me to creatively build my ideas into a virtual world and share them with others. This was life-changing for me—causing me to fall in love with gaming.”
Chang encourages current and prospective UC Santa Cruz students to look into scholarships, campus jobs, clubs, and programs, emphasizing that all those opportunities can open many doors.
Looking forward in her career, Chang plans to continue a career in the gaming industry and one day pursue a director-level position. Chang emphasizes that at the heart of her work is a commitment to creating with intention, uplifting diverse voices, and helping make games feel more thoughtful, welcoming, and human.
Life Beyond the Redwoods features 10 Class of 2025 alumni who share how their time at UC Santa Cruz prepared them to launch their careers one year after graduation.