Whenever a significant honors show approaches, one notices a clamor for introducing fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and fill the passions of followers dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer previously argued supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward because like all single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing above others. Here's the proposal: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. However, it represents an essential concession within the realm of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these award types successfully include many game types, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Think about these this year’s best games, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year that have no home in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition in any category during that awards season
- Another imaginative release missed out in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored in 2021
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often modest productions, but the art in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles count as the most-played games in the world maintaining this status for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with popular creative games for the title of best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. One could readily select five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators operate at the hard edge interactive creation, creating some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Just like cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay generations.
