Each time a significant honors show draws close, there’s always an outcry for the addition fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and fill the passions of fans dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would board games, this being someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and it will always generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason movie academies avoid this approach. Yet it remains an essential concession for the industry of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications effectively encompass numerous genres, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Consider three of outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: 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 between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens outstanding logic titles published annually lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition completely during that awards season
- A different innovative game missed out in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored in 2021
- Limited numbers of logic titles scraped into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most popular titles globally continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with well-known building titles for the title of highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. One could readily select a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers function at the challenging frontier game development, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.
