As any prominent honors show approaches, there’s always a clamor to include additional classifications to recognize overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague has already made for a horror game category. That would rule. The same goes for board games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and important of all. Here's the proposal: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains a necessary evil 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 receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types successfully include many game types, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
There are dozens outstanding logic titles published annually that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition in any category that year
- A different innovative game received no nominations that year
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked in 2021
- Just some logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles stand as the most-played games in the world continuing this trend for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals well-known building titles claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it also contends for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier game development, creating some of essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
