As any major honors show nears, one notices a clamor to include fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and fill the hearts of fans with niche passions.
Another commentator has already made supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. The same goes for board games, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal stands as crucial and important of all. This is the request: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason film award organizations don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil in the world of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these six categories effectively encompass numerous genres, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Think about these recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges of one title, intense tile-matching of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games published annually without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition completely that year
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game was overlooked in 2021
- Only a few puzzle games managed to sneak into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're small games, however the design in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as most engaged experiences in the world continuing this trend for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals famous sandbox experiences claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these are games lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers function at the demanding boundary of video game design, developing some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Just like cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait 35 years.
