As any significant prize-giving event nears, there’s always a demand to include additional classifications to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and delight the spirits of followers with niche passions.
Another commentator previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. Equally deserving are board games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist when I prioritize just as with other single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal is the most urgent above others. Here's the proposal: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works is not a science; it’s very subjective, and it will always start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason movie academies don’t do it. But it is an essential concession for the industry of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they hardly constitute one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked for anything during that awards season
- Another imaginative release missed out in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored in 2021
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers scraped into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're small games, however the design in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games worldwide continuing this trend for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges famous sandbox experiences competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait 35 years.
