The Iconic Puzzle Game Didn't Win at This Gaming Ceremony — Another Award Type Could Fix That

Whenever a major prize-giving event nears, one notices an outcry for introducing of new categories to honor unsung work and fill the spirits of followers who have specialized interests.

Another commentator has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. The same goes for tabletop games, this being someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal stands as crucial and important of all. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of gaming, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.

For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.

Present Award Structure

Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types actually cover numerous genres, making space possible for most games within them.

Different situation exists for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Think about these recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: structural challenges of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Which classification works between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.

The Representation Problem

There are dozens excellent brain-teasers published annually without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive Indie races.

  • One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
  • Another imaginative release was excluded in 2019
  • A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment that year
  • Just some brain-teasers barely qualified for niche award types

Value of Brain-Teasers

These are often modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most popular titles globally and have been for over a decade.

The legendary block-stacking game rivals well-known building titles claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, and engaging with almost every other genre.

Recommendation and Reasoning

Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. One could readily select a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.

And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge of video game design, producing among the purest expressions of gaming itself. Comparable to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay 35 years.

Veronica Smith
Veronica Smith

Liam Voss is a seasoned business strategist and digital transformation expert with over 15 years of experience in global markets.