As any major prize-giving event draws close, you'll find a clamor for the addition fresh award types to recognize overlooked contributions and satisfy the passions of enthusiasts with niche passions.
My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. The same goes for tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward because like all blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand is the most urgent above others. This is the request: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it’s very subjective, and inevitably spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains an essential concession for the industry of video games, which are so diverse they hardly constitute as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards currently feature award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these classifications actually cover numerous genres, allowing placement for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games published annually that have no home during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated completely that year
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- Popular arranging title was overlooked recently
- Only a few puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience challenges famous sandbox experiences for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. You could fill a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers operate at the challenging frontier interactive creation, creating some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Just like movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay decades.
