Each time a significant honors show approaches, there’s always a clamor to include of new categories to acknowledge overlooked contributions and fill the spirits of followers with niche passions.
My colleague has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are tabletop games, this being someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. But it is a necessary evil in the world of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies currently feature classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these six categories actually cover many game types, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Think about these this year’s best games, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, intense tile-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers published annually that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition in any category in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game was overlooked that year
- Just some puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're small games, but the art of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most popular titles in the world continuing this trend for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and engaging with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
Restating the point, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators are working at the demanding boundary interactive creation, developing some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.
