Each time a major honors show nears, you'll find an outcry to include fresh award types to recognize underappreciated efforts and satisfy the passions of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
Another commentator previously argued for a horror game category. That would rule. So would tabletop games, which is someone's personal cause. However, I must insist when I prioritize since similar to single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification supporting my request is the most urgent and important of all. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and it will always start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. But it is an unavoidable compromise within the realm of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards presently include classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications effectively encompass numerous genres, making space possible for most games within them.
Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year that have no home at major award shows, if they accidentally match award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked for anything during that awards season
- Another imaginative release was excluded in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored recently
- Just some puzzle games scraped into niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent modest productions, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as most engaged experiences globally and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories in important events. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge interactive creation, developing some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait 35 years.
