As any prominent honors show draws close, you'll find an outcry for the addition of new categories to honor unsung work and satisfy the spirits of followers who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would strategy board titles, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. The demand is this: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and typically start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that movie academies avoid this approach. However, it represents an essential concession within the realm of video games, showing incredible range they barely qualify one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, and you can find room for numerous titles.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to put them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles in a particular game, intense tile-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers launched regularly lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition in any category in 2014
- Another creative title was excluded during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as most engaged experiences worldwide continuing this trend for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences for the title of best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, while interacting with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. You could fill five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers are working at the hard edge interactive creation, producing among most fundamental forms of the video game form. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay generations.
