Truman Cho
Computer Science Student · Game Developer · Creator
Key Work
BeTru Maker Project (2025-Present)
Self-directed project studying what it takes to shift a kid from player to maker. Helping them find their creative superpower.
Ran structured game demos for 80+ kids at Knollwood Elementary School in New Jersey. Kids tested 3 mini games and gave feedback via online forms. Main teacher wrote a glowing letter of rec.
Ran charm bar activation for 70+ graduating 5th graders at PS38 in Brooklyn. Each charm had a game QR code for kids to go home and play and explore the maker site.
Built and ran a 5-day maker workshop for 6 kids from 8-9 years old, each taking a character from sketch to playable game to printed shirt.
Ran a condensed 2-hour session for 7 5-year-olds to learn how to make their own shirt designs using their own handwriting and be tru decals.
Built and launched betrumaker.com. A free public resource site for kids who want to start making things, including a gallery of student work.
Game Development
Started on Scratch at 6 years old and made 10+ projects through elementary school (idkalt)
Game Boy homebrew games made with GB Studio and published on itch.io (idk1801):
Blood Moon (2023), first GB Compo 2023 entry
Mount Rock (2024), first game on cartridge
OverDose (2025)
Archaea (2025), GB Compo 2025 entry
Dragon 0 (2026, in development), a medieval fantasy Game Boy game with all art drawn in my own style
Flashed ‘Mount Rock’ onto a physical Game Boy cartridge (2024): sourced the parts, flashed the chip, works on real hardware
Post-build devlogs on YouTube (2 published)
Merch & Product Design
Founded BeTru (2023–Present), an original character brand. Launched June 2023 with 10 original characters printed on apparel, stickers, mugs, bottles, notebooks, and pouches
Created an exclusive merchandise line for Friday Harbor Suites
First collection, July 2023: 15 original artworks on apparel, mugs, bottles, postcards, and totes
Second collection, April 2025: 6 additional artworks
Sold products through:
Philz Coffee (July 2024 and December 2025)
CorePower Yoga (December 2025)
FAD Market (Brooklyn) (September 2025 and Spring 2026
Dusk till Dawns (Spring 2026)
Lululemon pop-ups (July 2024)
Friday Harbor Suites (summer 2023, first pop-up and summer 2026)
Events and activations:
PS38 Charm bar event (June 2026)
Redeemer Church activation (June 2025)
Commissioned work:
Brooklyn and Korean themed party charm bar, 6 original artworks (May 2026)
Reptile-themed party charm bar, 8 original artworks (April 2026)
CorePower Yoga, 4 yoga animal designs for a pop-up (December 2025)
Philz Coffee, 2 California-themed pieces for a pop-up (December 2025)
Artwork featured at a 3-day pop-up in Korea (November 2025)
Redeemer Church activation (June 2025)
Paper Cup Design, Mother's Day hand lettering project (April 2025)
VOX Media holiday gifting, custom illustration for a team gifting project (March 2024)
Private holiday gift illustrations for dog, twin hotdog soccer players, dragon (December 2023)
CorePower Yoga, custom water bottle art for the Brea, CA location (September 2023)
Friday Harbor Suites Merchandise line (July 2023)
Experience & Leadership
Barista
Medio Cafe, Friday Harbor, WA (Summer 2026)
77+ hours worked doing kitchen, service, and barista counter.
Headed a 1-week county fair for the cafe. Handled setup/breakdown, counter, and drink-making for 500+ tickets.
Resolved a marketing promotion issue at the fair to pivot the promotion item. Resulted in an increase in sales by double within 1 day.
Youth Game & Community Lead
Redeemer Presbyterian Church Brooklyn (Spring 2025-Present)
Assistant teacher for elementary youth class, twice monthly for 12-20 kids.
Founded informal post-service hangouts and monthly lunch outings for middle schoolers.
VBS team lead for 12 kids for 1 week.
Hotel Gift Shop merchandise design
Friday Harbor Suites, WA (2023–Present)
Designed 15 custom illustrations.
Managed in-house production of the initial launch for shirts, sweatshirts, and tote bags.
Managed production for mugs, postcards, and stickers using 3rd party vendors.
Uploaded e-commerce SKUs to Shopify.
Assisted with gift shop display and layout.
Hotel work experience
Friday Harbor Suites, WA (2020–Present)
Summer and spring break jobs doing kitchen prep, cleaning, and guest hospitality, increasing in responsibility each year.
2020 - Cleaned up the hotel yard, built the fireplace, and assisted with laundry duties.
2022 - assist in clean up, bussing tables, making desserts, and serving guests at catering time.
2023- First hotel merch line launch and pop-up, and continued kitchen duties.
2024- Spring break: update merchandise and make new inventory; light kitchen and cafe help.
2025- Spring break: launch collection #2.
2026- Officially hired as barista for hotel cafe, worked 77+ hours.
Skills
Technical
Java · SQL · C++ · BASH · LUA · GB Studio (self-taught) · Unity (basic)
Creative
Procreate · CapCut · Cricut (since 2023) · Heat Press · DTF/UV-DTF Printing
Business / Other
Branding & Packaging · Pop-up Planning · Customer Engagement · Self-taught Piano (since 2021)
Press & Partnerships
Featured in "The New York Teen at Home" by Adriane Quinlan, Curbed / New York Magazine, July 2026. Part of Curbed's Teen Week coverage
xTool content collaborator with Paper Cup Design, producing 13 pieces of content (August 2026)
Competitions & Recognition
3rd Place, Game Design Project, CIEE Kyoto (2025), out of 12 teams
GB Compo entrant, 2024 (Mount Rock) and 2025 (Archaea)
For Fun
Have been making videos with my friends for over five years. I direct and edit them in CapCut
Self-taught guitar since 2019 and piano in 2021 on a free upright
Bake with friends and turn it into YouTube shorts
Collect retro handhelds. I have a lot of old Game Boys, including one from 1989
Sell Pokemon cards on Whatnot
Design clothes and jewelry