Each time a major honors show approaches, one notices a clamor to include of new categories to acknowledge unsung work and delight the passions of enthusiasts with niche passions.
A fellow writer made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would tabletop games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent above others. Here's the proposal: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and inevitably generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil in the world of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories effectively encompass numerous genres, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears to put them. Think about these this year’s best games, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. Which classification works among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly that have no home at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category that year
- Another imaginative release missed out in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
- Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles stand as the most-played games globally maintaining this status for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals famous sandbox experiences for the title of best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators function at the demanding boundary of video game design, producing among most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.