Daisy Digital Game Design Badge

The Digital Game Design badge is the second in this year's set of "progressive" Coding for Good badges. Like the Cybersecurity and Robotics series, the badge pamphlets for these badges show three badges rather than one, and, rather than giving a choice of three activities for each requirement for each badge, they simply give age-appropriate background information on the badge topic. The VTK plans are clearly lesson plans, not just groups of activities related to a topic.

The badges were sponsored by codeSpark Academy and while the VTK plans are "unplugged" and do not require the use of a computer, the materials provided to the leaders include a file about codeSpark Academy and which of its games related to the various badges.

Explore how video games can make a difference

Explore tools used to develop digital games
Plan a maze game
Build, test, and improve your maze game

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how video games are designed.

Below are the steps in the VTK plans:

Play Mother May I

VTK recommends this as an opening activity as girls arrive. The leader points out that games do not have to be complicated to be fun.

Opening

In the opening circle, the girls talk about digital games they like and the leader leads them to conclude that while we can play game just for fun, we can also play games to learn new things or visit places virtually. The leader then goes through the game design process:

Come up with an idea, including setting, characters and how people will play
Sketch your ideas
Create artwork
Program the game

She also tells the girls that this process can take years, so we are just going to come up with the initial paper design.

Maze Game

Prior to the meeting the leader, using resources supplied on VTK, sets up a 5X5 grid and makes it into a maze game for a stuffed animal to rescue a kitten. Using the supplied symbols, girls have to create the algorithm to get the stuffed animal through the maze to the kitten.

Design a Maze Game

After playing the leader-designed game, Daisies are tasked with coming up with their own plan for a digital maze game. The character should go through the maze to help something. Each Daisy is given four index cards and draws a character, two obstacles and one goal. For example, the character could be a robot that moves around furniture (obstacle) to pick up a toy (goal) or a firefighter who moves around buildings (obstacles) to rescue a kitten (goal). Girls should take five minutes to draw these four cards.

Next, the girls are given a grid and told to put their character at the bottom and their goal at the top. Then they put the obstacles on the grid too. Girls spend some time at the end of the first meeting sharing their plans.

Playing Games

As girls arrive at Meeting Two, the leader should have a variety of board games or paper and pencil games available for them to play. In the opening circle, discuss the games' rules, characters and goals. Also talk about how games can be "for good".

Build, Test and Improve Your Maze Game

Girls are divided into groups of six or less and use the characters, obstacles and goals designed at the last meeting to design a maze game for a Daisy to go through. The girls use the programming symbols for left, right, forward, and jump to create an algorithm to move the Daisy through the maze. They are told to refer to their paper plan when they set up the maze. As they play the game, they think of ways to improve it. The process of testing and improving is called iteration, which is one of the words the girls should learn.

Closing

After completing the maze game activity, girls are asked to fill out a survey for GSUSA. The leader pulls the girls together, discusses what they learned, and distributes the badges.