Each time a prominent honors show draws close, one notices an outcry for the addition additional classifications to recognize underappreciated efforts and delight the spirits of fans who have specialized interests.
Another commentator has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would tabletop games, representing someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front since similar to single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request is the most urgent and important of all. This is the request: We need an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason cinema institutions don’t do it. But it is an unavoidable compromise in the world of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they hardly constitute as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies offer these genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Think about these outstanding current releases, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, intense tile-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game was overlooked that year
- Limited numbers of logic titles barely qualified for niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're small games, however the design in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most popular titles worldwide and have been for many years.
The famous puzzle experience competes with popular creative games claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it also contends for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. You could fill five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers function at the challenging frontier interactive creation, producing among the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
