Whenever a major prize-giving event draws close, one notices a clamor for the addition of new categories to honor unsung work and delight the spirits of followers with niche passions.
My colleague has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward just as with other blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal remains most pressing and important of all. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and typically spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. However, it represents a necessary evil within the realm of video games, showing incredible range they hardly constitute as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies offer these genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement for numerous titles.
Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles from a specific release, intense tile-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything during that awards season
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment recently
- Just some logic titles barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're modest productions, but the art in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most engaged experiences in the world and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience competes with famous sandbox experiences for the title of best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators operate at the demanding boundary interactive creation, creating some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait generations.
