Each time a major awards ceremony approaches, you'll find a demand for introducing of new categories to acknowledge overlooked contributions and satisfy the spirits of fans dedicated to specific genres.
Another commentator made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are board games, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front just as with other single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification backing this proposal is the most urgent and important of all. This is the request: We need a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and inevitably generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents a necessary evil within the realm of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these classifications actually cover many game types, and you can find room for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Think about these recent excellent titles, all very different: the architectural riddles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated in any category in 2014
- A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment that year
- Just some puzzle games scraped into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, however the design in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games in the world and have been for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience challenges well-known building titles for the title of best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. One could readily select a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these include experiences without proper classification in important events. Logic title developers are working at the challenging frontier of video game design, creating some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Just like movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
