Each time a major prize-giving event approaches, there’s always a demand to include additional classifications to recognize overlooked contributions and delight the passions of fans who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize just as with other single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. The demand is this: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. However, it represents an essential concession for the industry of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies presently include award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these six categories effectively encompass many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.
Not so for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games published annually without proper recognition at major award shows, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked for anything in 2014
- Another imaginative release received no nominations during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title got ignored in 2021
- Just some logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences globally continuing this trend for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and engaging with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. You could fill a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the demanding boundary of video game design, producing among the purest expressions of the video game form. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
