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Brown CS alum Heidi Erwin was recently named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Games category, which recognizes early-career professionals making significant contributions in the gaming industry. Heidi is currently a senior game designer at The New York Times and was the sole designer from her hiring in May, 2021 until August, 2024. She led the design for several games, including Connections and Strands, which now have millions of daily players. 

As well as her puzzle content, her Forbes profile cites Heidi’s comic creations and Tiktok account, which has millions of views. She’s the recipient of a Webby Award for “Connections”, which won the 2024 People’s Choice Award, and the 2021 Mark Baumer Literary Arts Prize.

“As a woman in tech, and a woman in games specifically, it feels like there’s utility to having accolades like this award,” Heidi says. “Some might be inclined to not take a young woman seriously in the tech space, but with recognition from people in positions of power (at Forbes, for instance), suddenly that young woman is granted credibility.” 

Heidi states that this phenomenon has felt frustrating, but says that there’s something valuable about directly confronting the reality of the world, a feeling that she articulated in this recent comic. 

“Regarding the Forbes Under 30 list, the idea of achieving X by age Y could easily be warped into a mindset I’d rather be free from. Wouldn’t it be a little disappointing if your best work happened in your 20s and not in your 40s, 50s, 80s – when you have more wisdom and perspective?” Heidi says. “That being said, celebrate yourself where you are! Which is how I’ve chosen to interpret this recognition, as a prompt to celebrate myself for enduring the challenges of the first half of my twenties.”

Heidi advises current Brown students to pursue what they’re interested in, stating that coming from a place like Brown already provides you with credibility in the world, so the risk of committing to creative interests is much smaller. “You’re probably more capable, and have more advantages than you think,” she says.

Heidi says she’s grateful for the encouragement from Brown CS faculty members Barbara Meier and Jeff Huang during her time in college, adding that she and Barbara are running friends on Strava, a fitness app, and that she’s thought about Jeff’s advice many times over the course of her current job.

“In 2021, Jeff told me that if I started working a corporate job and felt like there was more on my plate than I could handle, to not think by default that I was the problem, because it may be a result of poor management,” Heidi says. “It’s been very helpful in setting boundaries – you really need to say no to a ton of things to be able to say yes to the things you care the most about.”

When asked about the future, Heidi states that she’s not sure what’s next, but is excited to find out. “I’ve been working on a side project puzzle game and have found myself feeling something about games that I haven’t felt since college, which is that it’s really fun to make weird stuff without creative constraints, in a context where no person or corporate incentive can stop me,” she says.

Brown CS regularly publishes news articles about our pioneering and innovative alums. We have no financial involvement in any of the companies mentioned above and have not been compensated in any way for this story. The views and opinions expressed above are those of individuals, and do not state or reflect those of Brown CS, nor does their publication here constitute an endorsement of them.

For more information, click the link that follows to contact Brown CS Communications Manager Jesse C. Polhemus.