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Whenever a prominent awards ceremony approaches, there’s always an outcry for the addition of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and fill the spirits of enthusiasts with niche passions.

My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist when I prioritize just as with other blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. This is the request: There should be an award type for logic-based games.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Classifying creative works is not a science; it remains highly personal, and inevitably generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. But it is an essential concession in the world of gaming, which are so diverse they hardly constitute one unified medium.

For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.

Current Gaming Award Categories

Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types effectively encompass a lot of ground, allowing placement for numerous titles.

Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Consider three of outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.

Recognition Challenges

Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly that have no home during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive Indie races.

• One classic puzzle game got overlooked in any category in 2014
• Another creative title missed out in 2019
• A beloved organization game got ignored that year
• Only a few puzzle games scraped into independent or mobile categories

Importance of Logic Titles

Frequently they represent modest productions, but the art in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games worldwide and have been for many years.

The famous puzzle experience rivals famous sandbox experiences for the title of most purchased experience; it also contends for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.

Proposal and Rationale

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.

To emphasize again, these are games lacking appropriate categories in important events. Logic title developers function at the hard edge game development, developing some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay generations.