Peace or Piece
About
Peace or Piece is a narrative role-playing game in which players divide into groups, choose a character to embody, and make decisions that will impact the story in real time — a story designed to be both realistic and relatable to the local youth mentored by the Center for Teen Empowerment, whose team intends to make use of the game in their work moving forward.
Since the initial playthrough in December 2022, the Engagement Lab has continued to work with members of Teen Empowerment to further refine the game, including an adjusted version designed for eighth graders which was playtested in May 2023. The materials required to play the game will be uploaded to the ELab website in the near future.
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A Look Inside the Co-Creation Process
“Through this course, I have learned about the real complexities of the issue of gun violence and how it can affect all parts of society… Together, we are all working to design a game that is meaningful and holds value.”
— Malena Horne, student
Social Impact Studios, facilitated by the Engagement Lab, give Emerson students and faculty the opportunity to work directly with local grassroots changemakers to co-create media projects that will make an impact in Boston and beyond.
Peace or Piece was co-created in Fall 2022’s Social Impact Studio, Games for Social Change, in partnership with the Center for Teen Empowerment.
Partners
Project Team
Students
Owen Warner
Student, Emerson College
Anastasia Bekis
Student, Emerson College
Yanhe Bo
Student, Emerson College
Ross Cobo-Lewis
Student, Emerson College
Sydney Gazard
Student, Emerson College
Malena Horne
Visual & Media Arts '23
Sage Kingsley
Visual & Media Arts '24
Charlie von Peterffy
Media Studies '24
Hayden Startzell
Student, Emerson College
Mingxi Wang
Student, Emerson College
John Yang
Interdisciplinary Studies '24
Learning Partners
Breyanna Catlett
Learning Partner, Teen Empowerment
Marley Christopher
Learning Partner
Arianna Constant-Patton
Learning Partner, Teen Empowerment
Nate McLean-Nichols
Learning Partner
Johnny Pires
Learning Partner, Teen Empowerment
Studio Instructors
Eric Gordon
Director
Professor, Visual & Media Arts