Each time a prominent honors show approaches, you'll find an outcry for introducing additional classifications to honor underappreciated efforts and satisfy the hearts of fans with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. That would rule. So would strategy board titles, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and inevitably generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why film award organizations don’t do it. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise in the world of video games, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these six categories effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges in a particular game, intense tile-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. What category would fit them between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition for anything that year
- Another creative title missed out in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment in 2021
- Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent small games, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as most popular titles in the world maintaining this status for many years.
The famous puzzle experience challenges famous sandbox experiences claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and engaging across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers function at the hard edge game development, creating some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
