Each time a significant awards ceremony nears, one notices a demand for the addition of new categories to acknowledge unsung work and fill the spirits of followers dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would strategy board titles, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front because like all blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. This is the request: We need an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and typically start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. But it is a necessary evil within the realm of gaming, which are so diverse they barely qualify a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to be recognized, 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, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications effectively encompass numerous genres, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Think about these outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles released every year without proper recognition in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked completely that year
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games scraped into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals famous sandbox experiences competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these are games that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators operate at the hard edge interactive creation, producing among essential manifestations of the video game form. Just like cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay decades.
