Each time a major awards ceremony draws close, there’s always a clamor for introducing additional classifications to acknowledge unsung work and delight the spirits of fans dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are board games, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist when I prioritize since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal stands as crucial above others. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and typically spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that movie academies steer clear of genre categories. But it is an unavoidable compromise within the realm of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they hardly constitute a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies currently feature genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types effectively encompass many game types, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: structural challenges from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers published annually without proper recognition in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
- Only a few logic titles barely qualified for niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're small games, yet the craft behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most popular titles in the world continuing this trend for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience competes with famous sandbox experiences for the title of most purchased experience; it also contends as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators are working at the challenging frontier game development, creating some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
