Whenever a significant awards ceremony approaches, there’s always a clamor to include additional classifications to recognize underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of fans dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for board games, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal 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 film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an essential concession for the industry of gaming, which are so diverse they barely qualify a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories successfully include many game types, allowing placement for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Think about these outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated for anything that year
- Another creative title missed out in 2019
- Popular arranging title was overlooked that year
- Only a few logic titles managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Well-known matching games rank among most popular titles worldwide continuing this trend for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges popular creative games competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification in important events. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge game development, creating some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait decades.
