🔗 Share this article

Whenever a significant honors show approaches, one notices an outcry to include fresh award types to acknowledge overlooked contributions and satisfy the spirits of enthusiasts with niche passions.

My colleague made the case for a horror game category. That would rule. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case for why my demand is the most urgent above others. This is the request: It's essential to create an award type for logic-based games.

Categorizing Game Types

Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and inevitably start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that movie academies steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an essential concession in the world of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they hardly constitute a single creative category.

For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.

Existing Game Classification System

Leading game ceremonies presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications effectively encompass numerous genres, making space possible accommodating various experiences.

Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, each quite distinct: building puzzles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Which classification works between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.

The Representation Problem

There are dozens excellent brain-teasers launched regularly lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.

• One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated completely that year
• A different innovative game missed out that year
• Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment in 2021
• Just some brain-teasers managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications

Importance of Logic Titles

Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles count as the most-played games worldwide maintaining this status for many years.

The famous puzzle experience competes with popular creative games competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and engaging with almost every other genre.

The Solution and Justification

Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. It would be easy to populate five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.

Restating the point, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier of video game design, creating some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Just like movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.