As any significant awards ceremony nears, one notices an outcry for introducing additional classifications to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the spirits of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer has already made for a horror game category. That would rule. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing and significant. This is the request: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why movie academies don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil within the realm of video games, which are so diverse they barely qualify one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of achievement in video games to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies presently include classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games published annually without proper recognition in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely during that awards season
- Another creative title was excluded in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked that year
- Limited numbers of logic titles scraped into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent compact experiences, yet the craft behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as the most-played games in the world and have been for over a decade.
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 for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and engaging with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these are games lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Comparable to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
