Boy Scouts Roll Out "Game Design" Merit Badge

Andy Chalk

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Boy Scouts Roll Out "Game Design" Merit Badge


The Boy Scouts of America will introduce the new merit badge at the SXSW Gaming Expo being held this weekend.

I was a Cub Scout for a few years, before my innate dislike of all things organized got the better of me, and during that time I earned approximately two merit badges, both of which I suspect were awarded out of pity. Back then, it was all about tying knots and doing your civic duty and trying to figure out which mushrooms were least likely to kill you, all of which my interest in and aptitude for added up to approximately zip. But things have changed since those days long ago, and I'm not just talking about the advent of electricity and indoor plumbing; I'm talking about something that might actually be relevant to today's more indoorsy kind of kid.

The Boy Scouts of America unveiled the Game Design merit badge today, which will encourage scouts to look at games in a different light - and not just videogames, but boardgames, sports and other forms of play. But Scouts won't earn the badge just for having thumbs of fire and steel; they must "analyze different types of games; describe play value, content, and theme; and understand the significance of intellectual property as it relates to the game industry."

The requirements for the merit badge were developed over a two-year period by volunteer gaming enthusiasts and representatives from the game industry (which one wasn't specified). Scouts vying for the badge will also have to design a game, using a design notebook that demonstrates the initial concept, multiple iterations based on testing and feedback from blind tests. Game designs can be for board or card games, dice or even smartphone apps, and where applicable, prototypes can be tested at Scout camps or other functions.

The badge will be unveiled to the world at the SXSW Gaming Expo in Austin, Texas, which runs from March 8-10.


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Sqrt(-1)

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That's pretty cool. If this was 2 years ago, I would have definitely tried to earn this badge. I wonder if D&D-like games would count?

Somewhat related: my Scoutmaster was a guild leader in WoW, and that caused some of the older scouts (myself included) to join. On more than one occasion, a few of us would sit around the campfire and tell the younger scouts the lore.
We also spent half a canoeing trip discussing the naga.
 

Falterfire

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And once again we see the central paradox of the Boy Scouts:
A lot of the most active and involved leaders and scouts at the local levels are incredibly interested in exploring the world and trying everything and science and whatnot.

Unfortunately at some point the Mormons basically bought the Boy Scouts, which means now we're stuck dealing with all the anti-gay and anti-atheist bullshit coming from the top levels, despite the fact that quite a few of us honestly would be happy to see all of that vanish.

If you think the Boy Scouts are too discriminatory, don't worry: Quite a few of us feel the same way, and we do what we can when we can. Unfortunately the Mormon Church decided to make the Boy Scouts their pet organization back in the 80's (I think) and now provide over half of all Boy Scout funding, so there's only so much we can do.
 

Zeraki

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Man... I really wish this was around when I was in Scouts. Getting into game design was something I really wanted to do as a kid.
 

Elvaril

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Andy Chalk said:
I was a Cub Scout for a few years, before my innate dislike of all things organized got the better of me, and during that time I earned approximately two merit badges, both of which I suspect were awarded out of pity.
You must have been a Boy Scout if you were earning merit badges, not a Cub Scout as the Cub Scouts do not earn merit badges. I think the cub scouts get belt slides and silver and gold diamonds or something like that. Can't really remember as it was so long ago.
 

kortin

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Falterfire said:
And once again we see the central paradox of the Boy Scouts:
A lot of the most active and involved leaders and scouts at the local levels are incredibly interested in exploring the world and trying everything and science and whatnot.

Unfortunately at some point the Mormons basically bought the Boy Scouts, which means now we're stuck dealing with all the anti-gay and anti-atheist bullshit coming from the top levels, despite the fact that quite a few of us honestly would be happy to see all of that vanish.

If you think the Boy Scouts are too discriminatory, don't worry: Quite a few of us feel the same way, and we do what we can when we can. Unfortunately the Mormon Church decided to make the Boy Scouts their pet organization back in the 80's (I think) and now provide over half of all Boy Scout funding, so there's only so much we can do.
The anti-gay thing actually destroyed my troop and all willingness to participate in Boy Scouts.

Kinda hope they get past that because other than that, Boy Scouts was really fun.

OT: This is actually probably the best and most interesting merit badge I've heard of.
 

Andy Chalk

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Elvaril said:
You must have been a Boy Scout if you were earning merit badges, not a Cub Scout as the Cub Scouts do not earn merit badges. I think the cub scouts get belt slides and silver and gold diamonds or something like that. Can't really remember as it was so long ago.
Nope, definitely a Cub, definitely got badges. Could be because it's the Canadian branch? Or maybe just because it was so long ago. So, so long ago.
 

thepyrethatburns

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Wow, the continually declining membership numbers for the Boy Scouts must really be making the organization heads nervous.
 

Falterfire

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kortin said:
The anti-gay thing actually destroyed my troop and all willingness to participate in Boy Scouts.

Kinda hope they get past that because other than that, Boy Scouts was really fun.

OT: This is actually probably the best and most interesting merit badge I've heard of.
My favorite is still 'Nuclear Science'. Sample requirement:
"Choose an element from the periodic table. Construct 3-D models for the atoms of three isotopes of this element, showing neutrons, protons, and electrons. Use the three models to explain the difference between atomic number and mass number and the difference between the quark structure of a neutron and a proton."

Most absolutely terrifyingly difficult Merit Badge ever Also totally awesome and an example of the sorts of in depth introductions to various subjects that Boy Scouts can provide when it's doing what it does best.

Other fun memories: Learning about architecture courtesy of one of the scout's parents who was a professional architect. Freaking awesome to see all the geometry lessons from 9th grade math being put to real use.
 

Daaaah Whoosh

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All things considered, the addition of this merit badge would not have kept me in the Boy Scouts. However, it may have made me sad about leaving before I'd gotten it.

Meh, Boy Scouts was nothing more than any other religious order/fraternity/cult out there, it's just a bunch of immature boys trying to feel good about themselves by having undeserved power over others. If it'd actually been about friendship, teamwork, and the values of living closer to nature, I probably would have stayed a bit longer.
 

Shadowsetzer

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Daaaah Whoosh said:
All things considered, the addition of this merit badge would not have kept me in the Boy Scouts. However, it may have made me sad about leaving before I'd gotten it.

Meh, Boy Scouts was nothing more than any other religious order/fraternity/cult out there, it's just a bunch of immature boys trying to feel good about themselves by having undeserved power over others. If it'd actually been about friendship, teamwork, and the values of living closer to nature, I probably would have stayed a bit longer.
I don't know about your troop, but the leaders of the troop I was in did a good job of teaching that stuff. Not every group of young men centers around hazing and chest-thumping.

OT: This badge looks awesome. I'm glad to see it.
 

Gorrath

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Daaaah Whoosh said:
All things considered, the addition of this merit badge would not have kept me in the Boy Scouts. However, it may have made me sad about leaving before I'd gotten it.

Meh, Boy Scouts was nothing more than any other religious order/fraternity/cult out there, it's just a bunch of immature boys trying to feel good about themselves by having undeserved power over others. If it'd actually been about friendship, teamwork, and the values of living closer to nature, I probably would have stayed a bit longer.
I am honestly sorry that your experience in the Boy Scouts left you with such a terrible impression. I would say though that painting the whole organization as a religious order or cult is perhaps a bit strong. The purpose of the leadership roles within the ranks is meant to strengthen an understanding of proper leadership, not provide undeserved power over others. While I agree that there are problems in the way U.S. scouting is tied to religion, the vast majority of major events I participated in were heavily secular and concentrated on skills, education and camaraderie. I am not trying to defend the scouts by denying your opinion of them, I just don't want anyone to get the idea that whatever negative experiences you had are necessarily indicative of scouting as a whole. I wish you could have had the sort of great experiences I did, sincerely. To anyone who might be interested in scouts but who find the practices of the local troop disheartening, I'd say keep looking. I am an Eagle Scout and an atheist. Not all troops are the same.
 

Ukomba

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DVS BSTrD said:
Ukomba said:
In before anti-gay... never mind. People are so predictable.
I wonder what kind of badge I could get for drawing this?
http://wanabekweer.tripod.com/graphics/doubleman.gif
I believe this is the art badge

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/jpg/art_lg.jpg

But a stick drawing like that probably wouldn't qualify.