Whenever a major honors show nears, one notices a clamor for the addition additional classifications to recognize underappreciated efforts and satisfy the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
Another commentator made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is someone's personal cause. However, I must insist for pushing forward because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and typically generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil in the world of video games, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories successfully include a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. What category would fit them among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category in 2014
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored that year
- Just some puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as the most-played games in the world maintaining this status for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience competes with well-known building titles competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
Restating the point, these are games that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge game development, creating some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
