Whenever a major awards ceremony nears, there’s always an outcry for the addition fresh award types to acknowledge unsung work and fill the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
Another commentator has already made for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would board games, which is someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front since similar to single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why movie academies avoid this approach. But it is a necessary evil in the world of gaming, which are so diverse they barely qualify a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards currently feature genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types actually cover many game types, and you can find room for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Think about these outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked for anything that year
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles count as most popular titles worldwide maintaining this status for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games competing to become highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators are working at the demanding boundary interactive creation, developing some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.
