Game Design Merit Badge
Eight requirements drawn so the four dependencies the badge states by number are explicit, and so the eight separate occasions that need other people are visible before any of them is arranged.
9 steps (18 parts inside them). 2 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Game Design Merit Badge
No questions answered
This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the question at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.
Which of this applies to you
You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering one question will take out the parts that are not for you.
Your progress
21 steps can be started now; 5 are waiting on something else.
Clear ticksYour ticks are kept in this browser, so they will still be here next time. They are in the address as well, so a link to this page carries them to another device.
The steps
Stage 1 of 9
1 step
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1. Four games analysed, and four kinds of play value Requirement
Two parts. The first needs four games from four different media, which is a wider net than it first appears.
2 parts, 1 ticked
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1(a). Analyse four games, each from a different medium Often forgotten
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Stage 2 of 9
1 step
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2. Five of seventeen design terms, each tied to a real game Requirement
Discussed with your counselor. For each term you pick, describe how it relates to a specific game, so five terms and at least one game to hang each on.
Stage 3 of 9
1 step
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3. Intellectual property, and what a licensed property is Requirement
Define intellectual property, describe the types found in the game industry, describe how it is protected and why protection is necessary, then define a licensed property and give an example.
Stage 4 of 9
1 step
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4. Change the rules of a game you already play, four play sessions Often forgotten Requirement
Four parts, and three of them are separate occasions with players. This is the requirement whose real cost is other people's time.
THIS REQUIREMENT IS FOUR PLAY SESSIONS. One normal game at 4(a) as a baseline, then three more at 4(c): one changed rule at a time. Each needs enough players for whatever game you picked, which is the argument for picking one your patrol already plays.
4 parts
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4(c). Play it three more times, one changed rule at a time Often forgotten
Stage 5 of 9
1 step
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5. Design a new game, and start the game design notebook here Often forgotten Requirement
Any medium or combination of media. The requirement also introduces the game design notebook, which requirements 6 and 7 then write into and 7(c) hands over.
START THE NOTEBOOK NOW, AND KEEP IT AS YOU GO. Requirements 6(a), 6(b), 6(c) and 7(b) each record into it, and 7(c) hands it to your counselor and discusses what it shows, which is how the design changed between the first playtest and the last. Written up afterwards from memory it becomes a summary of a finished game, and the question 7(c) asks cannot be answered from a summary.
Stage 6 of 9
1 step
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6. Prototype and playtest: approval FIRST, then three test cycles Often forgotten Requirement
An unlettered note at the top of this requirement makes the counselor's approval of the concept a condition of starting. Then 6(b) and 6(c) together are three full test cycles.
THE APPROVAL IS IN A NOTE, NOT IN A LETTERED PART. Requirement 6 opens: "You must have your counselor's approval of your concept before you begin creating the prototype." It has no letter of its own, which is exactly why it reads as a preamble, and it gates the entire second half of the badge. Take the requirement 5 design work to your counselor and get the concept agreed before you build anything.
3 parts
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6(a). Build the prototype of the game from requirement 5 Usually comes after 5. Design a new game, and start the game design notebook here.
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6(b). Playtest it, change at least one rule, and play it again Often forgotten Usually comes after 5(b). Why anyone would want to play it.
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6(c). Do all of that at least twice more Often forgotten Usually comes after 6(b). Playtest it, change at least one rule, and play it again. THIS IS TWO MORE FULL CYCLES, NOT TWO MORE GAMES. Requirement 6(b) is test, compare, fix, change at least one rule, explain why, play again, record the outcome, and 6(c) repeats all of it twice. Together they are three complete test-and-revise cycles, each needing enough people to meet the game's player format. On a troop that meets weekly, this requirement alone is most of a month.
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Stage 7 of 9
1 step
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7. The blind test, with people who have never seen it Often forgotten Requirement
Three parts. The middle one needs a group who did not play or watch any earlier playtest.
3 parts
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7(a). Write an instruction sheet that works without you Often forgotten
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7(b). Hand it to fresh players and DO NOT help them Often forgotten Usually comes after 6. Prototype and playtest: approval FIRST, then three test cycles. THE BLIND TEST NEEDS PLAYERS WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE GAME, not played it, and not watched a previous playtest. Everyone who helped with requirement 6 is therefore ineligible, and so is anyone who was in the room. Plan for two separate groups from the start: one to iterate with across the three cycles of requirement 6, and one held back for this. A Scout who uses the same patrol throughout has nobody left. WATCH, BUT DO NOT HELP. Give them the instruction sheet and the components and let them work it out. This requirement is a test of the instruction sheet you wrote at 7(a), not of the game, and stepping in to explain is the natural instinct that destroys the result.
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Stage 8 of 9
1 step
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8. A developer, or an educator. Do ONE Requirement
The badge states the choice. The two routes carry different conditions.
2 parts
Stage 9 of 9
1 step
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Counselor signs it off Milestone
The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.
Usually comes after 8. A developer, or an educator. Do ONE.
Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.
This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.