Each time a major awards ceremony draws close, you'll find a clamor to include fresh award types to recognize underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of followers with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. The same goes for tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front since similar to single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request is the most urgent and important of all. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why cinema institutions don’t do it. Yet it remains an essential concession within the realm of video games, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories effectively encompass numerous genres, and you can find room for most games within them.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to put them. Think about these recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games released every year that have no home in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored in 2021
- Just some logic titles managed to sneak into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, however the design in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most engaged experiences globally and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these are games lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the challenging frontier interactive creation, producing among the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
