Each time a prominent awards ceremony approaches, you'll find a clamor to include fresh award types to acknowledge overlooked contributions and fill the hearts of fans with niche passions.
A fellow writer has already made supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. The same goes for tabletop games, this being someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front just as with other single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal remains most pressing and important of all. Here's the proposal: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents a necessary evil in the world of video games, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications actually cover numerous genres, allowing placement for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Consider three of this year’s best games, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked in any category that year
- Another imaginative release was excluded during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title got ignored recently
- Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games worldwide maintaining this status for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with well-known building titles for the title of highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. You could fill five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Comparable to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay decades.
