Each time a major prize-giving event approaches, one notices an outcry for the addition additional classifications to recognize underappreciated efforts and satisfy the spirits of followers dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. The same goes for tabletop games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize since similar to single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification supporting my request remains most pressing above others. Here's the proposal: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it’s very subjective, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. Yet it remains an essential concession in the world of gaming, showing incredible range they barely qualify as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these six categories successfully include numerous genres, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No appropriate category exists to put them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers published annually that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated completely during that awards season
- Another creative title was excluded that year
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored that year
- Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often small games, but the art of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as most engaged experiences globally and have been for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. You could fill a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators are working at the hard edge of video game design, creating some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
