How can I learn to program my game?

Programming can be very challenging to learn, and so programming knowledge is not necessary to earn the Game Design merit badge.  However, some people do have a knack for programming, and if you have an interest in learning to program, we encourage you to do so.  Carnegie Mellon University created an easy-to-use programming language called Alice that was designed to teach students how to program a computer, either a PC or Macintosh.  Alice is free to download from http://www.alice.org, and the website contains videos and other materials that will teach you how to use the language.