As any major honors show draws close, you'll find a clamor for introducing additional classifications to acknowledge overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of followers dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would board games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent and important of all. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and inevitably generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. But it is an unavoidable compromise within the realm of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they barely qualify one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types effectively encompass many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles from a specific release, intense tile-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition for anything during that awards season
- A different innovative game was excluded that year
- A beloved organization game got ignored recently
- Limited numbers of logic titles scraped into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most popular titles globally and have been for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals well-known building titles competing to become most purchased experience; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, while interacting with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators are working at the demanding boundary game development, developing some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait generations.
