As any significant prize-giving event approaches, you'll find a demand for the addition fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize since similar to single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. This is the request: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works is not a science; it remains highly personal, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise within the realm of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies presently include genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications successfully include numerous genres, allowing placement for numerous titles.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, intense tile-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. What category would fit them between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated in any category in 2014
- Another creative title was excluded that year
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment in 2021
- Only a few brain-teasers managed to sneak into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most popular titles in the world maintaining this status for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience competes with popular creative games claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers operate at the demanding boundary interactive creation, producing among the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
