Each time a prominent prize-giving event draws close, there’s always a clamor to include additional classifications to acknowledge unsung work and delight the hearts of fans with niche passions.
A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would tabletop games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand stands as crucial and important of all. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that film award organizations don’t do it. But it is an unavoidable compromise within the realm of video games, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards presently include genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types actually cover many game types, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers published annually without proper recognition in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category in 2014
- Another creative title missed out during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Just some brain-teasers scraped into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games count as most popular titles in the world and have been for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. You could fill a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers operate at the challenging frontier of video game design, creating some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
