Whenever a prominent prize-giving event approaches, there’s always a clamor for the addition fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the spirits of enthusiasts with niche passions.
My colleague made the case for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front just as with other single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal stands as crucial and important of all. This is the request: There should be 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. There’s a reason movie academies don’t do it. Yet it remains a necessary evil for the industry of video games, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards currently feature award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications effectively encompass a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears to put them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, all very different: building puzzles from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked for anything in 2014
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- Popular arranging title got ignored in 2021
- Only a few brain-teasers managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're modest productions, but the art of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles count as most popular titles in the world continuing this trend for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and engaging with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these include experiences that otherwise have no home in important events. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
