Step Up

Resilient Games Studio – PC Game (2025)

My Roles

Lead Writer, Game Design

What is Step Up?

Step Up is an educational adventure role-playing game that puts players in the shoes of a high school student ready to make a difference in their community. Featuring a diverse cast of characters and a mission-based narrative, the player participates in conversation “battles” in which they defend and support bystanders targeted by prejudicial harassment. Step Up was developed in collaboration with research teams at Ohio State University and Ci3 at the University of Chicago with the goal of diversifying the national scientific workforce.

Read more about the research and development of Step Up through its NIH report here.

An digitally drawn image of a "battle screen" from Step Up. The background of the image is a convivence store drawn in purple sketchy lines with no coloring done. At the top of the screen are two bars representing progress, one labeled "Zee" and the other labeled "Clerk," At the center of the screen is a wheel that is partially covered by a text box, but that wheel shows labels that say "Make a Point" and "Choose a focus." A cartoon bee floats to the right side of the screen. Below that bee is the shadowy image of a man. On the left side of the screen is Zee, a non-binary high school student with shoulder-length brown and red-highlighted hair stands on the second floor of a high school. Zee wears a yellow short sleeved school uniform and has brown skin. A text box shows that Ida Bee is saying "Hi! I'm Ida the Bee. I'm here to explain any of the game's systems or rules and it looks like you're about to play through an Intervention."
A digital art drawing of a classroom with computers, computer chairs, monitors, and a projection screen. Standing at the center of the image are four people, two adults and two children. In order, they are 1) Mrs. Shante, a brown-skinned woman with golden earrings, a gold bangle, purple lipstick, a blue headwrap, an aqua shirt with an abstract print on it, and a pink blazer; 2) Sofia, a brown-skinned girl with bright pink lipstick, her curly hair pulled up in a high bun, a yellow collared school uniform shirt, brown pants, and a blue belt; 3) Mark, a light-skinned boy with glasses, a green ROTC uniform with many badges on it, and a military style backpack; and 4) Mr. Yoo, an Asian man with his short hair pulled up in a bun, a red collared shirt with a tie and dark blue vest, blue jeans, and tattoos on his neck and arms. A text-box at the bottom of the screen shows that Ms. Shantae's pronouns are She/Her. She is saying "I'm back!" There are various menu buttons at the edges of the screen for opening menus, chat logs, and settings.
The title screen for Step Up is a digital drawing that shows a boxy building that has a sign that says "Washington Wells." It has pillars, glass doors at the front of the building, and a large glass side of the building above what appears to be a mural. The entire scene is cast in cool purples and blues. At the top of the image is a torn piece of paper that says in purple lettering "Step Up." Bellow the letters are icons of a microscope, gears, an atom, and the pi symbol. At the bottom of the screen is a button that says "Start Game."
A digital art drawing of a theatre classroom with a set being built in the background. Against the wall is an ice cream stand shaped like a sundae, and behind it, a blue line-drawing covering the wall of a UFO and a street. A ladder sits in front of the drawing. Standing at the center of the image are three people, one adult and two children. In order, they are 1) Mr. Yoo, an Asian man with his short hair pulled up in a bun, a red collared shirt with a tie and dark blue vest, blue jeans, and tattoos on his neck and arms; 2) De Andre, a very light-skinned boy with short blonde dreadlocks, a yellow collared school uniform shirt, brown pants, and a brown belt; 3) and Sofia, a brown-skinned girl with bright pink lipstick, her curly hair pulled up in a high bun, a yellow collared school uniform shirt, brown pants, and a blue belt. A text-box at the bottom of the screen shows that Sofia's pronouns are She/Her. She is saying "You pose in photos with energy drinks or something?" There are various menu buttons at the edges of the screen for opening menus, chat logs, and settings.

The Narrative

Step Up is your story: the main character you create at the start of the game is a bird-lover and one day finds him/her/themselves involved in a quest to save a local park where cardinals live. But it won’t be easy: first, you must find enough support from other students to create a movement (and a club). By supporting one another, and with the help of several mentors and teachers along the way, you have a choice to make: will you fight to shut down the construction of a grocery store your community desperately needs to save a park you love? Or will you listen to—and advocate for—your community?