Each time a major honors show nears, there’s always a clamor for introducing fresh award types to recognize unsung work and fill the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. The same goes for tabletop games, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case supporting my request is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains a necessary evil in the world of video games, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these award types effectively encompass many game types, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Which classification works between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly that have no home during gaming ceremonies, 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 got overlooked completely in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often compact experiences, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games rank among most popular titles globally maintaining this status for many years.
The famous puzzle experience challenges well-known building titles claiming status as most purchased experience; it also contends as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. You could fill multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories in important events. Brain-teaser creators function at the challenging frontier interactive creation, producing among the purest expressions of the video game form. Just like movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait 35 years.
