Whenever a significant honors show approaches, there’s always a clamor for introducing of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and fill the spirits of followers who have specialized interests.
My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing above others. This is the request: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and typically start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of video games, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications actually cover many game types, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. Which classification works among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year that have no home at major award shows, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition in any category in 2014
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game was overlooked that year
- Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often compact experiences, yet the craft behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games count as most popular titles in the world maintaining this status for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with well-known building titles competing to become best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, while interacting across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these include experiences without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge game development, developing some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay decades.
