As any significant awards ceremony draws close, you'll find a demand to include additional classifications to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of followers with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are tabletop games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal stands as crucial above others. This is the request: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it remains highly personal, and inevitably spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains a necessary evil in the world of video games, which are so diverse they hardly constitute one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Consider three of this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games published annually without proper recognition in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition completely during that awards season
- A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Only a few logic titles managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as most popular titles globally and have been for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games competing to become highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. You could fill a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories in important events. Logic title developers function at the hard edge game development, creating some of essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Similar to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
