Working with the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, the WIGI hopes the patch will act as a step towards creating a nationally recognized Girl Scouts badge for video game creation in the U.S.
The idea behind the patch is to urge young girls to pursue an interest in science, technology, engineering and math, and show them that a career in the video game industry is entirely possible.
The initiative will utilize the Gamestar Mechanic, E-line's development tool used during the National STEM Video Game Challenge, to provide a tailored program to meet the patch requirements.
Can't wait to see the details of this. I really liked the general game design, rather than computer or video game design, approach the Boy Scouts took. So I would be interested to see this take.
It's worth noting that the Girl Scouts have had a game design badge since the 1990s. This new patch is specifically for video game design. :) Thanks, WIGI! This is going to be a fantastic program.
Awesome! Hopefully this leads to a cycle of girls showing their peers that they too can make video games, and piques interest from more girls to look into the field and grow into women that want to make games!
I'm all in favor of this, of course, but it does seem awfully specific. What's next? Automotive design? Furniture design? How many different kinds of merit badges can they have?
The more the merrier, if'n you ask me. I feel like there can never be enough encouragement to develop practical skills at a young age, regardless of whether it's starting a fire, weaving a basket, designing a game, or tuning the suspension on an automobile.
There's one called 'Car Care' that I did a workshop for when I was a scout, and another called 'Product Designer' where we did furniture design...