Each time a prominent awards ceremony draws close, one notices an outcry for introducing additional classifications to acknowledge overlooked contributions and fill the passions of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
Another commentator previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. The same goes for tabletop games, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward because like all blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal remains most pressing above others. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and typically generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. But it is a necessary evil for the industry of gaming, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories successfully include many game types, allowing placement for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated for anything that year
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often modest productions, however the design behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games worldwide continuing this trend for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience competes with popular creative games claiming status as most purchased experience; it also contends as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these are games without proper classification in important events. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge game development, creating some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
