Whenever a major awards ceremony draws close, there’s always an outcry for the addition of new categories to acknowledge overlooked contributions and satisfy the spirits of followers dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. The same goes for strategy board titles, representing a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. Yet it remains an essential concession within the realm of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they barely qualify a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications effectively encompass numerous genres, allowing placement for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Think about these outstanding current releases, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. Which classification works among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers published annually that have no home during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- Another imaginative release was excluded that year
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
- Only a few logic titles scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most popular titles in the world and have been for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges well-known building titles competing to become best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and engaging across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories in important events. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge interactive creation, producing among the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
