The Iconic Puzzle Game Couldn't Win at This Gaming Ceremony — A New Category Could Fix That

As any major honors show approaches, you'll find a demand for introducing additional classifications to recognize underappreciated efforts and satisfy the hearts of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.

My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. Here's the proposal: We need an award type for logic-based games.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. But it is an essential concession within the realm of video games, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.

To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.

Existing Game Classification System

Leading game ceremonies presently include award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types actually cover numerous genres, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.

Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.

The Representation Problem

There are dozens outstanding logic titles launched regularly without proper recognition in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.

• A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated in any category that year
• A different innovative game was excluded during that ceremony
• Well-received sorting experience got ignored that year
• Only a few puzzle games managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories

Value of Brain-Teasers

Commonly they're modest productions, yet the craft behind logic titles is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as the most-played games globally maintaining this status for over a decade.

The iconic tile-matching title challenges famous sandbox experiences competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.

Recommendation and Reasoning

Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.

Restating the point, these are games that otherwise have no home in important events. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge interactive creation, creating some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay 35 years.