As any prominent awards ceremony nears, you'll find an outcry to include fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and delight the spirits of enthusiasts with niche passions.
A fellow writer has already made for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist for pushing forward just as with other single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and it will always generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason movie academies don’t do it. Yet it remains an essential concession within the realm of video games, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories actually cover many game types, allowing placement for numerous titles.
Not so for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens outstanding logic titles published annually lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- Another creative title received no nominations during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment in 2021
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, but the art in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most popular titles in the world continuing this trend for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, while interacting across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. One could readily select multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these represent titles without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers are working at the demanding boundary game development, producing among most fundamental forms of the video game form. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.