As any significant prize-giving event approaches, there’s always an outcry for the addition fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and delight the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer previously argued for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. So would board games, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front since similar to single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification backing this proposal remains most pressing above others. The demand is this: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why movie academies steer clear of genre categories. But it is an essential concession for the industry of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types actually cover numerous genres, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Not so for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to put them. Think about these outstanding current releases, all very different: building puzzles from a specific release, intense tile-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition for anything that year
- Another imaginative release received no nominations that year
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment in 2021
- Only a few logic titles scraped into niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're small games, however the design behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as most popular titles worldwide and have been for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with well-known building titles competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. One could readily select multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles without proper classification at major gaming awards. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge of video game design, producing among most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
