Years ago, I taught the Game Design Merit Badge. I've learned some tough lessons since then.
What I didn't know at the time is that not all of the scouts and parents were as enthusiastic about game design as I was. Some of the senior scouts were anxious about advancing to Eagle and still needed merit badges that were required (unlike the Game Design merit badge, which isn't a requirement to become Eagle). Their parents were so incensed that I was "wasting time," they went up the ranks to try to get me removed. All this happened unbeknownst to me. I only found out later, when the story of the failed attempt was repeated to me ... without the person sharing realizing the story was ABOUT me.
Fast forward five years later. My son just made Eagle and we have a whole new crop of younger scouts who are eager to have fun and learn. The Game Design Merit Badge was a perfect opportunity to ease them into the troop. Leadership agreed, so I set out to redeem myself. This time, I swore, was going to be different.
We played several games and let the scouts pick choose up to four to analyze how they worked. To speed things up, I ran a game fair where the scouts could pick and choose between two giant Connect Four games, a ring hook toss game, Jenga, and a lawn dice game. We ran a separate session for chess. We also played several sessions of floor games where the scouts could tweak an existing game like Tag or Sit and then see how the rules tweaks changed the game.
The badge also includes a session on intellectual property and an interview with a game designer (that’d be me). That said, my ego took a hit as several scouts didn’t realize I “qualified” as a game designer even after speaking with me. Ouch.
The final session before the scouts debuted their games for playtesting was Dungeons & Dragons. Last time, it didn’t go so well. I was determined to run it differently.
The monsters were all dragons. I got them from a collection of Easter egg toys that look a lot like D&D chromatic dragons. Each DM pulled up to three eggs, not knowing what dragon was in them, and then had to assemble the dragons so it was a bit more fun for the DM too. Depending on the dragon, I handed out the relevant statistics so they were ready.
I like to incorporate any gaming into the ongoing storyline of my campaign, so the scouts all played elves defending the Mournwall (think the Wall from Game of Throne with more dragons and elves). I set up the terrain with a large battlemat they could all play on. Each scout chose a miniature to represent their character, some dice, and after a brief overview of how D&D works (which, I’ve discovered, is not that easy to teach in 15 minutes), we were off.
Combat was brutal. For the game I ran, the party’s cleric ended up bringing back his comrades from the brink while the party’s wizard ended up swinging the battle in their favor. They took out two dragons, and due to time constraints, we decided to let whoever beat their dragons help their comrades – which was a good thing too, because the DM that wasn’t my son had nearly wiped out the other party, with just two players left and unconscious. My party rescued them, and they were able to eliminate a third dragon. My son’s party was similarly decimated, with just three PCs surviving, but they managed to take out two of the dragons.
All the players got to keep the dragons they beat (if they struck the killing blow), the DMs got to keep any remaining dragons, and everyone kept their miniatures and dice.
The scouts all debuted their games, which ranged from detailed outdoor games to Roblox games to a fantastically illustrated board game. Their games were amazing and I’m so proud of the boys for what they were able to achieve in just a few short months.
All told, nine scouts finished the Badge, and I cheered when they each received their Game Design Merit Badge patch at the end of the school year. It was a great way to end my six years of service with the scouts on a high note ... with no complaints this time!
About the Game Design Merit Badge
Scouting has a long history of teaching gaming to Scouts, which has relevant badges in both Boy and Girl Scouts. The Game Design Merit Badge for Boy Scouts was launched in 2013. The badge requires participants to play four different types of games and critique them. Then the Scouts play three different existing games and tweak one rule. And finally, they create a prototype of their own games and blind test them with their peers. If you’d like to follow along, you can download the workbook.First, Some History
In April 2019, I launched the Game Design Merit Badge for my Boy Scout troop. I thought it would be a good opportunity to give the scouts something fun to do while earning a merit badge for the entire troop, and troop leadership agreed. It took ten weeks in total to finish the badge, culminating in a chaotic game of Dungeons & Dragons.What I didn't know at the time is that not all of the scouts and parents were as enthusiastic about game design as I was. Some of the senior scouts were anxious about advancing to Eagle and still needed merit badges that were required (unlike the Game Design merit badge, which isn't a requirement to become Eagle). Their parents were so incensed that I was "wasting time," they went up the ranks to try to get me removed. All this happened unbeknownst to me. I only found out later, when the story of the failed attempt was repeated to me ... without the person sharing realizing the story was ABOUT me.
Fast forward five years later. My son just made Eagle and we have a whole new crop of younger scouts who are eager to have fun and learn. The Game Design Merit Badge was a perfect opportunity to ease them into the troop. Leadership agreed, so I set out to redeem myself. This time, I swore, was going to be different.
A Condensed Version
The first thing I realized was that the at-home game development takes the most time. So, just before we went out on a three-month Spring Break, I taught the scouts the basics (covered in What’s a Game?). Then I encouraged them to begin work on developing and playtesting their games.We played several games and let the scouts pick choose up to four to analyze how they worked. To speed things up, I ran a game fair where the scouts could pick and choose between two giant Connect Four games, a ring hook toss game, Jenga, and a lawn dice game. We ran a separate session for chess. We also played several sessions of floor games where the scouts could tweak an existing game like Tag or Sit and then see how the rules tweaks changed the game.
The badge also includes a session on intellectual property and an interview with a game designer (that’d be me). That said, my ego took a hit as several scouts didn’t realize I “qualified” as a game designer even after speaking with me. Ouch.
The final session before the scouts debuted their games for playtesting was Dungeons & Dragons. Last time, it didn’t go so well. I was determined to run it differently.
D&D Part Deux
I had a rotating number of scouts who were also working on advancement requirements, so we never knew how many players we’d have exactly. There were potentially up to 15 scouts, so we divided them into three parties of five. I gave them eighth level characters from a variety of archetypes (fighter, cleric, wizard, rogue, ranger) and then chose three dungeon masters: me, my son, and another experienced scout who had DMed before. I modified this version of the character sheet to make it easier for scouts to understand how to play the game, with check boxes for actions (they would, for practical purposes, only be allowed to do certain actions once during the game).The monsters were all dragons. I got them from a collection of Easter egg toys that look a lot like D&D chromatic dragons. Each DM pulled up to three eggs, not knowing what dragon was in them, and then had to assemble the dragons so it was a bit more fun for the DM too. Depending on the dragon, I handed out the relevant statistics so they were ready.
I like to incorporate any gaming into the ongoing storyline of my campaign, so the scouts all played elves defending the Mournwall (think the Wall from Game of Throne with more dragons and elves). I set up the terrain with a large battlemat they could all play on. Each scout chose a miniature to represent their character, some dice, and after a brief overview of how D&D works (which, I’ve discovered, is not that easy to teach in 15 minutes), we were off.
Combat was brutal. For the game I ran, the party’s cleric ended up bringing back his comrades from the brink while the party’s wizard ended up swinging the battle in their favor. They took out two dragons, and due to time constraints, we decided to let whoever beat their dragons help their comrades – which was a good thing too, because the DM that wasn’t my son had nearly wiped out the other party, with just two players left and unconscious. My party rescued them, and they were able to eliminate a third dragon. My son’s party was similarly decimated, with just three PCs surviving, but they managed to take out two of the dragons.
All the players got to keep the dragons they beat (if they struck the killing blow), the DMs got to keep any remaining dragons, and everyone kept their miniatures and dice.
Was It a Success?
Teaching Dungeons & Dragons to boys ranging from 10 to 17 in an hour and a half is challenging; playing an entire session is even harder. I personally intervened to give the boys on advice on how to play their characters, and some came up with surprising tactics (the rogue used his sneak attack very effectively, the wizard was blasting away once he got the hang of it). But it was shocking to look at D&D with fresh eyes and see just how many options can overwhelm a new player. There’s a reason D&D starts out at 1st level, and it’s as much about developing your character as it is about slowly introducing the complexities of the game.The scouts all debuted their games, which ranged from detailed outdoor games to Roblox games to a fantastically illustrated board game. Their games were amazing and I’m so proud of the boys for what they were able to achieve in just a few short months.
All told, nine scouts finished the Badge, and I cheered when they each received their Game Design Merit Badge patch at the end of the school year. It was a great way to end my six years of service with the scouts on a high note ... with no complaints this time!
