Each time a major awards ceremony draws close, one notices a clamor to include fresh award types to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the spirits of enthusiasts with niche passions.
My colleague made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist for pushing forward because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise within the realm of gaming, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies offer these genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories actually cover many game types, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: building puzzles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition for anything during that awards season
- Another imaginative release was excluded during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment that year
- Just some puzzle games scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games worldwide and have been for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges well-known building titles for the title of best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these are games lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers operate at the challenging frontier game development, producing among most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Just like movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
