Whenever a major awards ceremony draws close, one notices a clamor to include of new categories to acknowledge overlooked contributions and fill the passions of enthusiasts with niche passions.
My colleague has already made for a horror game category. That would rule. The same goes for tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification supporting my request is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it’s very subjective, and inevitably start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that movie academies steer clear of genre categories. But it is an unavoidable compromise within the realm of gaming, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards currently feature classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types successfully include numerous genres, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, all very different: the architectural riddles of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. Which classification works among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home at major award shows, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored recently
- Limited numbers of logic titles scraped into niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles count as the most-played games in the world continuing this trend for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these are games lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators operate at the demanding boundary game development, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Similar to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait generations.
