Skip to content
UpdateGlobal UK

The Iconic Puzzle Game Didn't Succeed at The Game Awards — An Additional Classification Could Fix That

As any prominent honors show draws close, you'll find a clamor for the addition additional classifications to recognize underappreciated efforts and fill the passions of followers dedicated to specific genres.

Another commentator has already made supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. So would board games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward because like all single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. The demand is this: There should be an award type for logic-based games.

The Genre Classification Challenge

Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that movie academies avoid this approach. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they hardly constitute as a single art form.

For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.

Existing Game Classification System

Leading game ceremonies currently feature classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these six categories effectively encompass a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.

This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. What category would fit them among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.

Acknowledgment Issues

There are dozens outstanding logic titles launched regularly without proper recognition in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.

  • An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition for anything during that awards season
  • Another imaginative release missed out in 2019
  • A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment recently
  • Only a few logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories

Importance of Logic Titles

Frequently they represent small games, however the design of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as most engaged experiences in the world and have been for an extended period.

The iconic tile-matching title rivals famous sandbox experiences for the title of highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, while interacting with almost every other genre.

Proposal and Rationale

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. One could readily select multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.

Restating the point, these include experiences that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators function at the challenging frontier of video game design, producing among the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait generations.

About the author

Tina Bailey

A seasoned tech journalist and business analyst with over a decade of experience covering digital transformation and international markets.

UpdateGlobal UK

Type to search articles.