Whenever a significant awards ceremony approaches, there’s always a clamor to include of new categories to honor unsung work and satisfy the spirits of fans dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would board games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist for pushing forward because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification backing this proposal is the most urgent and important of all. This is the request: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations don’t do it. But it is an essential concession for the industry of video games, showing incredible range they barely qualify as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature genre categories for Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these six categories successfully include a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. Which classification works between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment in 2021
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers barely qualified for niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent compact experiences, yet the craft behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. One could readily select a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge interactive creation, producing among essential manifestations of the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay generations.
