Each time a major awards ceremony draws close, you'll find a clamor to include fresh award types to recognize unsung work and fill the hearts of enthusiasts with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front since similar to blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification backing this proposal is the most urgent above others. This is the request: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of gaming, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Consider three of outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. What category would fit them among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition in any category during that awards season
- A different innovative game received no nominations that year
- Popular arranging title was overlooked that year
- Just some brain-teasers managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent modest productions, yet the craft in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most popular titles worldwide and have been for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with popular creative games for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and engaging with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators function at the hard edge game development, creating some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
