As any major honors show nears, you'll find a clamor to include of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and delight the passions of followers who have specialized interests.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. Here's the proposal: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it’s very subjective, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that film award organizations don’t do it. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise for the industry of video games, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications successfully include numerous genres, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Think about these recent excellent titles, all very different: the architectural riddles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition for anything in 2014
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment in 2021
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers scraped into niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most engaged experiences in the world maintaining this status for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges well-known building titles claiming status as most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge of video game design, producing among the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
