The BSA recognizes that the theory that goes into creating a game is a teachable and worthwhile skill for Scouts to learn. All Scouts who wish to take the merit badge have to complete eight different requirements, several of them with multiple steps. The general idea behind merit badges is to allow Boy Scouts to learn new and interesting hobbies, fields of study and even vocations. Perhaps one day a Scout that I teach could go on to be a professional public speaker, enjoy kayaking as a lifetime pursuit, or even become a designer of a game loved by millions.
About a month ago, I received word that I could teach the newest offering of the Boy Scouts. I was an official counselor of the newest Merit Badge offered by the Boy Scouts. In order to teach the class though, I had to come up with a plan.
Relationships
Before teaching the class, I had a few details to work out. I had to decide if I should teach it upon request (which is fairly common) or if I should teach it using a classroom method. The benefits of teaching this particular merit badge - let's just call it an MB for now on - in a class far outweighed teaching it one-on-one. I consider the best games to be those that encourage some type of interaction between players. The next decision to resolve was where to teach it. I had several options. I could teach it out of my home, at the meeting place my Troop uses, or at some other suitable location. The place obviously had to have tables and chairs, decent lighting, and room for up to twelve boys plus myself. Once I thought of it that way, the choice became obvious. My local game store had an ideal space - but would they want us there?
A quick conversation during MTG league play on a Sunday afternoon let me know I had the right idea. The new co-owner of the store was immediately excited. He asked me to put something together and send it in to him as soon as I could. Within a few weeks, I had sent in an outline for two different versions of the class along with pricing, expected turn-out and a brief outline of what I wanted to teach and what I needed help with teaching.
After a few more such communications, we had a date, a plan and a few ideas for expanding the program at a later date. The most important part of setting this up was to pick a date and time that worked for both parties. I couldn't do it too early on a weekday, kids are in school and parents are in work. Weekends for the store wasn't a good solution, as they they are often very busy with tourneys. So we had to strike a balance. In picking a Thursday night, the LGS and I were both satisfied.
When I set this up, I knew I had a few goals. There were in order of importance: introduce the Scouts to the MB, teach them a new game, introduce them (and their parents) to the LGS, generate new customers for the LGS. Why was generating new customers a goal? Simple enough. I wanted to be a good steward. Call it a fringe benefit, getting kids into the store that had never been there before would hopefully result in new customers and repeat visits. It's a match that will help the LGS and will benefit me long term as I build a better relationship with the owners to continue to host classes.
Keeping it Familiar
The very first time you teach someone any skill that you've never taught before, there are steps you should take to make things easier for you. To make things easier for me, I had elected to keep the group small. I originally only allowed 10 Scouts to sign up - and due to conflicts only 9 actually made it. Of the nine, seven had never played a game of MTG before in their life, although several had played other trading card games. Another way to keep it friendly was for this class I used my extended family for the inaugural class. My Troop has about 40 Scouts. This gave me a ready pool of Scouts that I was already familiar with to offer the class to. That's a big plus when it comes to interactions and pairings for a one versus one game.
I also had a well-defined plan for the class worked out in advance. I knew I had to go over several specific topics, and I had them mapped out in an order that made sense to me. My smartest move was I enlisted the aid of someone who knew the game well enough to patiently teach it and offer guidance to new students of the game. My ace in the hole was my younger son, Jacob. At only 12 years old, he's a year ahead of some of the younger Scouts and has held a couple of youth leadership positions - plus, he's been playing MTG for a year and a half in various settings from casual to limited to competitive standard. I have to state that without Jake, the night would have certainly been more stressful.
My helper, explaining to another Scout a finer point of the rules.
Lastly, to teach anyone a new skill from scratch it helps to have a model for teaching. In the Boy Scouts, we use the EDGE method. EDGE is an acronym for: Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, & Enable. This model parallels how we learn something new in the best and easiest to understand manner. The EDGE method is just a more formal way of looking at this. By following EDGE, I knew we'd be fine.
Teaching Game Design
Confession time - I'm not a game design professional. *GASP* But, I do have a love for games from the simplest to the most complex. I've played good games. I've played some very bad games. And I've even played a fair number of games that were simply missing something. My particular experience is wide ranging. From field games such as soccer and lacrosse which I've spent half a lifetime playing to word games, if it's interested me in some way, I've likely either played it or have been a spectator with an active interest. For a long time, computer games occupied hours of each day. Diablo, Quake, Descent, Baldur's Gate, Metroid...the list goes on for some time. So how does one teach Scouts to design a game?
Ask yourself, what did I enjoy about any one game and you're off to a good start. People play games because they challenge or divert you in some way you find entertaining. Designing a game is the art of looking at what experiences you've enjoyed in the past and figuring out a way to capitalize on them in a fun and meaningful manner. The MB takes these many experiences into account, and starts with laying some very important groundwork.
Last Thursday night, I had a chance to impress these core ideals in a group of young minds. After all the Scouts arrived and made themselves comfortable, we started. I asked Scouts take turns talking about four different games they've played and analyze them. Their analysis covered basic building blocks of game theory, such as medium, format, objectives, rules, resources and theme. Every game has at least 4 of these, most that have been professionally developed and sold have all six. Once they expressed a baseline for what requirements go into making a game, then they move onto learning some very important terms used to describe games. Some of the answers were interesting and led to brief side conversations. I made sure to stress some concepts that I considered important. First, while I considered Minecraft to be a game (some of the Scouts didn't), I made no such provisions for Candyland. The other important point I tried to drive home during this discussion was the difference between official rules and 'house' rules. I told them that house rules are just as important, but if you have to play the game purely as designed, it's important to understand the official rules.
Scouts were asked to define thematic elements such as story, setting and characters. They're asked to explain play sequence, level design and interface design. There are almost 20 different terms that they have to understand before moving forward from this point. While learning vocabulary is hardly exciting, gripping stuff, it is required to progress. One can possibly build a desk without knowing how to define a hammer, screwdriver or how to put Part A into Part B. But to really understand the process, you have to know how to define and use the terms. Having a conversation about designing a game forces Scouts to look at games they've played in the past in a more top-down view. No longer are they the consumers and end users. Now, they take on the role of the creator.
Before we moved into the really exciting material, we had to cover one more area of study in relation to designing games. Possibly the driest of topics that would only excite a lawyer, those earning the MB must spend a little time learning about intellectual property. Scouts may not realize it, but the lessons learned hear can be well extended beyond Game Design. Hopefully, they gained something from the examples of what is and isn't a licensed property.
Teaching Magic
So the Scouts have had a taste of what it means to be a designer. They've learned some new terms and have had a chance to listen to me wax poetical about the finer points of trademark law (actually, we keep this part very simple - it's not quite poetry to an eleven year old).
What's next? Let's crack a pack!
To earn this MB, Scouts have to play a game. The game has to be variables that can be introduced. It can be a game they've played before, but I wanted to offer something new to many of them. While I knew that two of the nine Scouts had some experience before with MTG, I knew that there was at least one format they've likely never played. Working with the local game store, I had made arrangements in advance to have two packs of M13 per participant waiting in advance for me. I decided that it would be fun to use one pack per person to run a Mini-masters, and then offer the second pack for each Scout as a item to take home with them and open on their own time.
As we finished up going over Intellectual Property, I was pulling out my mono-red standard deck. Jacob was doing the same with his janky blue-black Stuffy Doll deck (don't ask, but I will qualify this with he's finished in the Top-8 at a PTQ with it). Using our two decks, we briefly explained the game, from drawing your hand, playing land and on to the first few plays of a game. I showed the Scouts the different parts of a card, from name to power and toughness. We also went over life totals and different card types. It was a whirlwind tour of how to play the game that lasted all of eight minutes. I do talk fast, but I didn't want to take too long belaboring any one point. I wanted to get them playing
The next move was to distribute their packs. Each Scout opened their pack of M13 as per my instructions, discarding the cards that were unnecessary (the extra land and token cards). Leaving the deck face down, we passed around the holiest of holy LGS game store relics, the 'bin-o-lands'. Instructing them to take three of each land type, we soon had them shuffling. As soon as they were ready, I passed out six-sided dice to determine who would get to decide who could decide as to which player would draw or play. Before I knew it, I had all of them playing MTG. And it was good.
An older Scout showing what it means to turn cards sideways.
The Scouts were lined up so they faced their opponents down the length of three tables (graciously set up in advance by the LGS with chairs and reserved for our use). Jacob took one side of the table, I took the other. As this was both meant to be both friendly and a teaching environment, occasionally he'd outright make play recommendations. Sometimes I stopped play to get everyone's attention regarding a gamestate (mostly to explain common evergreen keywords such as lifelink). At the end of the first round of games, I changed the rules. Feeling that they knew what they were doing at this point, I introduced a couple of new wrinkles. The first thing I did was paired up Scouts on either side of the table - the next round would be 2HG. I knew that this would be a more complicated, but I had faith the pay-off would be worth it. Scouts learn to work together under difficult circumstances. Knowing how bright the boys were and they're naturally proclivity to work together made the decision easy for me. The added benefit if having them help each other how to play while limiting the number of shoulders Jacob or I had to watch over made it a no-brainer for me.
The other change we introduced was one I had prepared for in advance. Not all packs of a core set are created equal. No one really expects to play well with just what you can open in a single pack, as balancing issues are sure to come up. Either the pack could be heavier in instants and sorceries or it could have a larger number of low cost or high cost cards was something I knew going into this. So I took a simple precaution. Out of my stockpile at home, I had grabbed a dozen or so low cost, big pay off creatures to bring with me. Flyers, haste and protection type creatures featured heavily. Before they started their 2HG round, I shuffled the cards I brought with me and gave out one per Scout. In hindsight, I did one thing wrong here. I should have loaded them up with two or three creatures each at this step. Teaching is about learning though, as much for me as for the Scouts. Future classes will incorporate this idea.
With the changes in effect, we launched straight into another round. The games took a little bit longer than before, but the Scouts adapted well to the change. Before I knew it, my help was no longer really necessary. They were plotting strategies and working out the best way to approach difficult problems presented by their opponents. It really was amazing to watch them enjoy playing a game I've spent so much time learning in the past year and a half.
Winning
It's hard to actually capture for you all of the little victories that evening. One that I remember distinctly was one Scout playing a creature during his first main phase. It wasn't that he played it for the right cost (he did). It wasn't that he played it at the exact time he needed it. No...it was as he played it, he said, "I summon..." Wow. Future Vorthos player right there.
Now that I think about it though, there were nine victories that day. Not all the Scouts found themselves in a winning position. Not all of them opened up a pack for a choice rare. All of them did learn a new game (or a new format) and every last one of them left that night smiling. Before they did though, I handed them two packets and their second pack of M13. The first is packet is one I provide most Scouts when they take a class I teach. It's a workbook that will help to guide them in the next steps they have to take to finish the class. The other packet had a pair of articles written by the maven of game design, Mark Rosewater.
In setting up for the class, I figured I could find a good article or two by Mark on the topic. Author of some ridiculous number of articles on Daily MTG, I went to my dear friend Google and asked it to search, "Magic the Gathering Game Design". It set me on the path to this pair of articles:
Ten Things Every Game Needs, Part 1
Ten Things Every Game Needs, Part 2
No one is better on this topic than Mark. When I handed this packet out to the Scouts, I made sure they understood how important it was to read them and what Mark's done for the game in terms of design and a vision for the evolution of MTG.
I know the evening was a success. Scouts will still have to develop and demonstrate an original game for me, but the first seeds have been planted. From the LGS giving us big props on their Facebook page to Mike Robles doing a write up in a Gathering Magic article, we've received no small amount of attention. The Scouts from my Troop were gentlemen throughout the night. Even a few of the store regulars who were in the game room gave me a hand at one point or another (thanks Toby, Garrett and Jon). All of this doesn't measure up to the one perfect moment that happened as I was cleaning up. Probably the youngest Scout in the room went up to his father before leaving and asked the all important question, "Dad, can I buy some Magic stuff before we leave?"
And that my friends is a win, no matter how you slice it.
Endnotes
This event wouldn't have come together without some very special help. Sue W. of Jersey Shore Council helped to get my Counselor status approved for Game Design. Robbie and Rich of Jester's Playhouse in Northfield, NJ, hosted us for this event and have promised to lend a hand. In fact, Robbie came over to talk to the Scouts at the end of the evening about his role in promoting games and giving feedback to designers. We already have another session planned to teach a board game, with discussions to run this as a repeating event that I'll open up to Boy Scouts in my area, not just for my Troop. Mike Robles of Gathering Magic helped to get the word out about our program, and I can't thank him enough. I also want to encourage LGS's to reach out to their local Scout Troops and Councils to find out how they can sponsor an event like this, either by hosting or by going through the process to become Merit Badge Counselors. Lastly, without the continued help and support of Troop 94 this would likely not have happened. Before I sign off, here's a link to Jester's with some additional photos (just scroll down if interested), along with a link to Gathering Magic article by Mike.
Jester's Playhouse
Gathering Magic: Treasure Hunt
Until next time, remember this. Playing Magic may be fun, but teaching it is even better!
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