Each time a prominent awards ceremony draws close, one notices a demand for introducing additional classifications to recognize unsung work and delight the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
Another commentator made the case supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand stands as crucial and important of all. This is the request: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and it will always generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason cinema institutions don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil in the world of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards currently feature classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these six categories effectively encompass many game types, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Consider three of outstanding current releases, all very different: the architectural riddles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored that year
- Just some logic titles barely qualified for niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're modest productions, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most popular titles globally continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges famous sandbox experiences claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, while interacting with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators are working at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Comparable to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay generations.
