As any major awards ceremony approaches, you'll find an outcry for the addition additional classifications to recognize underappreciated efforts and delight the hearts of enthusiasts with niche passions.
Another commentator has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would strategy board titles, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize just as with other blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal remains most pressing and significant. Here's the proposal: We need an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an essential concession in the world of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards currently feature classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these classifications actually cover many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: building puzzles of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked for anything during that awards season
- A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked recently
- Just some brain-teasers barely qualified for niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're modest productions, yet the craft of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games globally and have been for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals famous sandbox experiences claiming status as most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. One could readily select multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators function at the hard edge interactive creation, developing some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
