The Iconic Puzzle Game Couldn't Win at The Game Awards — An Additional Classification Might Solve This
Whenever a significant prize-giving event nears, you'll find a demand for introducing fresh award types to honor unsung work and satisfy the spirits of enthusiasts with niche passions.
A fellow writer previously argued for a horror game category. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, representing a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. This is the request: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and typically start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that film award organizations don’t do it. But it is an unavoidable compromise within the realm of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories effectively encompass many game types, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. What category would fit them between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated in any category that year
- A different innovative game received no nominations that year
- Popular arranging title got ignored that year
- Limited numbers of logic titles scraped into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, however the design in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most popular titles globally maintaining this status for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals famous sandbox experiences for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
Restating the point, these are games without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier game development, producing among essential manifestations of the video game form. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.