As any significant awards ceremony nears, there’s always a demand to include fresh award types to acknowledge overlooked contributions and delight the passions of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an essential concession within the realm of gaming, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types effectively encompass numerous genres, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually that have no home at major award shows, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition completely that year
- A different innovative game missed out in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored in 2021
- Limited numbers of logic titles barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among the most-played games worldwide and have been for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience rivals well-known building titles claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these include experiences without proper classification in important events. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge game development, creating some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
