Each time a prominent awards ceremony nears, you'll find a clamor for introducing of new categories to acknowledge overlooked contributions and fill the passions of followers with niche passions.
A fellow writer previously argued for a horror game category. That would rule. Equally deserving are tabletop games, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case for why my demand stands as crucial and important of all. Here's the proposal: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. But it is a necessary evil within the realm of video games, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories actually cover numerous genres, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. What category would fit them among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers released every year that have no home in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition for anything in 2014
- Another imaginative release missed out that year
- A beloved organization game was overlooked recently
- Just some logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often small games, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most engaged experiences worldwide continuing this trend for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the demanding boundary of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Comparable to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
