Whenever a major honors show approaches, there’s always an outcry for introducing of new categories to recognize unsung work and delight the spirits of followers with niche passions.
A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal is the most urgent and important of all. The demand is this: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and it will always generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Consider three of outstanding current releases, all very different: structural challenges of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. Which classification works among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers released every year lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, except when they manage to fit award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything that year
- Another imaginative release was excluded in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Just some logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games rank among most popular titles worldwide maintaining this status for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. One could readily select five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the hard edge game development, producing among most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
