Game Developer Interest Badge for Scouts South Africa

LexAquillia

Hey all,

So I'm involved in Scouting South Africa, as an organisation we try to remain "relevant" in modern society (something that fails more often than it succeeds). Anyway the Boy Scouts of America have recently added a "Game Developer" merit badge to their curriculum. I though it would be awesome if the SA scouts had something similar.

Here is a link the BSA requirements: http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2013/03/06/game-design/

What would you have as the requirements for Game Developer Interest Badge? Unlike BSA our program tends to have a a very strong practical element (and we're nowhere near as paranoid about safety and being sued), so while theory is important (and should be discussed to a degree) it shouldn't be the focus of the badge. The badge should be reasonably attainable by someone 14 years or older, and should take about 6 months of "work", though these requirements aren't set in stone.

hanli

What a fantastic idea! I have no ideas yet, but i'll give it some thought.

Fengol

I remember being the only person in my troop how had a Computer badge. I will have to think about this a little

EvanGreenwood

Damn. That's an awesome badge. I probably would have stuck with scouts a lot longer if that had been around (at lease 6 months longer just to get the badge).

I think the intellectual property part might have some value. It is at step 3 of the course, before the scout starts planning their own game. Priming the scout with a bit of awareness as to why they shouldn't clone something before they start making something seems to me to be a good way to avoid an awkward situation later. Not that they'd get sued, but they might fail their badge and waste their time if they copy a game too closely, and no-one wants that.

I wonder if the trap of cloning can be conveyed to them in a less theoretical way?

I really like that they get to make a game and the course encourages them to observe their players and adjust their game based on feedback. The BSA badge seems to be to be very well constructed.

And I like that they can make a physical game or a tabletop game, or a video game if they can. I like that it isn't video game centric.

I think some of the theoretical stuff at the start has use, like discussing thematic elements. Though maybe something else could ground the badge better. I'm not sure how to make the badge more practical.

Maybe more playing games at the start? ... I mean like doing more of item 4 from the BSA badge.

e.g.

Play a table top game, a physical game, a pen and paper roleplaying game, and a video game with friends or family.
Report back on the moments/rules that made it fun, as well as the elements you identified that detracted from the fun.
And suggest ways to improve these games. etc

Worded better than that I hope. But I think getting kids to think about the games they're playing from a design point of view is useful. And playing games is a nice way to earn a badge. That's basically point 1 in the BSA badge except that it isn't for four games that have been played in the past, so it's a little more practical and is likely to get the scout thinking a bit more (because they'll be analyzing whilst playing instead of analyzing a memory from a time before they were concerned with such analysis).

Maybe they could discuss the various games they play with regards to those theoretical elements? (listed in point 2 of the BSA badge)

Thematic game elements: story, setting, characters

Gameplay elements: play sequence, level design, interface design

Game analysis: difficulty, balance, depth, pace, replay value, age appropriateness

Related terms: single-player vs. multiplayer, cooperative vs. competitive, turn-based vs. real-time, strategy vs. reflex vs. chance, abstract vs. thematic

I mean. They play the games, and then talk about what was the setting, and what were the gameplay elements and how those reenforce the setting. That sort of thing?

... I think the point 2 stuff from the BSA might be more powerful if related to a game they'd played as part of the course. Rather that cherry picking from past games to cover the elements discussed in point 2.

So I guess I'm suggesting something like doing more of point 4, and throwing a bit of point 2 into it, and making point 1 a practical exercise where they have to play new games of differing types (instead of analyzing games from memory).

Also... Maybe the point 1 stuff could be combined better with the point 5 stuff...

So they're asked to design a game in point 5... maybe they should discuss two games similar (that they may have played in the past) to the game they're hoping to design in point 5... that might also help them avoid cloning a game in a less tedious way (because they'll have come clean with their inspiration first).

(disclaimer... I don't design scout badges)

hellojaco

I wonder if the trap of cloning can be conveyed to them in a less theoretical way?

A Star Wars movie night perhaps? ;)