Whenever a significant awards ceremony draws close, one notices an outcry for the addition of new categories to honor underappreciated efforts and delight the hearts of fans with niche passions.
A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for board games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward because like all single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. This is the request: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. But it is an unavoidable compromise in the world of video games, which are so diverse they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types successfully include a lot of ground, and you can find room for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to put them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers launched regularly lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition for anything that year
- A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
- Popular arranging title got ignored that year
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent modest productions, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as most engaged experiences in the world maintaining this status for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. One could readily select five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators are working at the hard edge of video game design, creating some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
