As any major awards ceremony draws close, one notices a demand for the addition of new categories to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the hearts of followers who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer has already made for a horror game category. That would rule. The same goes for tabletop games, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: We need an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and typically start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. But it is an unavoidable compromise within the realm of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards presently include classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types successfully include many game types, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Think about these this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. What category would fit them among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition completely during that awards season
- A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
- Just some puzzle games scraped into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games count as the most-played games in the world continuing this trend for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals famous sandbox experiences claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers are working at the demanding boundary interactive creation, creating some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.
