As any major awards ceremony approaches, you'll find a demand for introducing of new categories to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for board games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal stands as crucial and important of all. Here's the proposal: We need an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that film award organizations avoid this approach. But it is an unavoidable compromise in the world of gaming, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these six categories effectively encompass many game types, making space possible for most games within them.
Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Consider three of this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges in a particular game, intense tile-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers published annually lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out in 2019
- Popular arranging title got ignored that year
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're small games, but the art of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games globally maintaining this status for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience challenges popular creative games for the title of best-selling game of all time; it also contends for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, while interacting across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. One could readily select five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers are working at the demanding boundary of video game design, creating some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
