Whenever a prominent awards ceremony draws close, you'll find a demand to include fresh award types to recognize underappreciated efforts and delight the hearts of followers with niche passions.
My colleague made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for board games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist for pushing forward since similar to blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it’s very subjective, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains a necessary evil for the industry of gaming, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these award types successfully include numerous genres, making space possible for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Consider three of this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games published annually that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely that year
- Another imaginative release was excluded in 2019
- Popular arranging title was overlooked that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most popular titles globally maintaining this status for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with well-known building titles for the title of highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. One could readily select multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier interactive creation, producing among the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
