Each time a major awards ceremony draws close, you'll find an outcry for the addition additional classifications to honor overlooked contributions and fill the passions of fans with niche passions.
Another commentator has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. The same goes for tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist when I prioritize just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand is the most urgent and important of all. The demand is this: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and typically start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil for the industry of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they barely qualify a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Which classification works between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, if they accidentally match classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked in any category in 2014
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment in 2021
- Just some logic titles managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're modest productions, however the design in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games rank among most popular titles globally continuing this trend for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games for the title of highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. You could fill five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these are games without proper classification at major gaming awards. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge game development, developing some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
