As any prominent prize-giving event nears, you'll find a demand for the addition of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and satisfy the hearts of fans with niche passions.
My colleague has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand is the most urgent and significant. This is the request: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and inevitably start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why movie academies steer clear of genre categories. But it is a necessary evil in the world of video games, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards currently feature award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications actually cover many game types, and you can find room for most games within them.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers released every year without proper recognition in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out in 2019
- Popular arranging title got ignored in 2021
- Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're small games, yet the craft in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most popular titles in the world continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with well-known building titles claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these are games that otherwise have no home in important events. Logic title developers function at the hard edge game development, producing among the purest expressions of the video game form. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait 35 years.
