As any prominent prize-giving event draws close, you'll find an outcry for the addition of new categories to honor underappreciated efforts and delight the spirits of fans dedicated to specific genres.
Another commentator made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are tabletop games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, 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.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and it will always generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. But it is a necessary evil for the industry of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these classifications effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Think about these recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually that have no home at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
- Another creative title missed out in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored recently
- Only a few logic titles barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles rank among the most-played games globally and have been for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals famous sandbox experiences claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers function at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
