Whenever a significant awards ceremony draws close, you'll find an outcry for the addition additional classifications to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the hearts of fans dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front since similar to single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case for why my demand is the most urgent and important of all. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. However, it represents a necessary evil within the realm of video games, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition for anything during that awards season
- A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent compact experiences, yet the craft of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most engaged experiences globally and have been for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience rivals famous sandbox experiences for the title of best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. You could fill multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers function at the demanding boundary interactive creation, producing among essential manifestations of the video game form. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
