As any prominent awards ceremony nears, one notices a demand to include of new categories to honor unsung work and delight the passions of followers who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent and significant. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it’s very subjective, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains a necessary evil in the world of gaming, which are so diverse they hardly constitute one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers launched regularly lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked in any category in 2014
- Another creative title missed out during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored recently
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games worldwide continuing this trend for many years.
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. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and engaging across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. One could readily select a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these are games without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers operate at the demanding boundary game development, producing among the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
