Whenever a major awards ceremony nears, there’s always a clamor for introducing fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and delight the spirits of followers with niche passions.
My colleague made the case supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are board games, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. Here's the proposal: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and inevitably spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why film award organizations don’t do it. Yet it remains a necessary evil for the industry of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these six categories actually cover many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers published annually without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated for anything that year
- Another creative title missed out during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game got ignored recently
- Just some logic titles barely qualified for niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as most popular titles globally maintaining this status for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with famous sandbox experiences for the title of highest-selling title ever; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. One could readily select multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers function at the challenging frontier game development, developing some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait generations.
