Each time a prominent prize-giving event approaches, you'll find a demand for the addition additional classifications to honor unsung work and delight the spirits of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
My colleague has already made for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. So would strategy board titles, this being a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal remains most pressing and significant. The demand is this: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works is not a science; it’s very subjective, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents a necessary evil in the world of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies currently feature award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories effectively encompass numerous genres, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Think about these recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: structural challenges from a specific release, intense tile-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
There are dozens outstanding logic titles published annually without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked in 2021
- Just some logic titles scraped into niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as most engaged experiences in the world maintaining this status for many years.
The famous puzzle experience challenges popular creative games for the title of best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. One could readily select a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
Restating the point, these include experiences that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers operate at the challenging frontier game development, creating some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait decades.
