As any major honors show approaches, there’s always a clamor for the addition fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and delight the spirits of followers with niche passions.
My colleague has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. The same goes for board games, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist for pushing forward just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal is the most urgent above others. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and inevitably spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why film award organizations don’t do it. Yet it remains an essential concession in the world of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards currently feature classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types effectively encompass a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to put them. Think about these outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles published annually lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated in any category in 2014
- Another imaginative release missed out in 2019
- A beloved organization game was overlooked that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent compact experiences, however the design in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles stand as the most-played games worldwide and have been for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences for the title of best-selling game of all time; it also contends for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, and engaging with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. You could fill five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home in important events. Puzzle game makers are working at the hard edge of video game design, producing among most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Just like movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
