Whenever a significant prize-giving event approaches, one notices an outcry to include fresh award types to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the hearts of followers with niche passions.
My colleague has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. So would strategy board titles, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. This is the request: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that movie academies avoid this approach. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise within the realm of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they barely qualify a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these classifications successfully include numerous genres, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Consider three of outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Which classification works between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category during that awards season
- Another imaginative release received no nominations during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Just some logic titles barely qualified for niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most popular titles worldwide and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals famous sandbox experiences competing to become best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and engaging with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. One could readily select a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories in important events. Brain-teaser creators are working at the hard edge game development, producing among most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Similar to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
