As any significant prize-giving event approaches, you'll find an outcry for introducing fresh award types to acknowledge 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 be fantastic. The same goes for tabletop games, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal stands as crucial and significant. This is the request: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise for the industry of gaming, showing incredible range they barely qualify as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards currently feature award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these award types successfully include a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated in any category that year
- Another imaginative release missed out that year
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
- Just some brain-teasers managed to sneak into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most popular titles worldwide continuing this trend for many years.
The famous puzzle experience rivals well-known building titles claiming status as most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, while interacting across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. You could fill a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier of video game design, producing among essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Similar to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay decades.
