Whenever a major prize-giving event nears, you'll find an outcry to include additional classifications to honor underappreciated efforts and delight the passions of followers with niche passions.
A fellow writer has already made for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. The same goes for board games, representing someone's personal cause. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification supporting my request is the most urgent above others. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and inevitably spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why movie academies steer clear of genre categories. But it is a necessary evil within the realm of video games, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types actually cover numerous genres, and you can find room for numerous titles.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, all very different: building puzzles of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything during that awards season
- Another imaginative release was excluded during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game got ignored in 2021
- Only a few brain-teasers scraped into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're modest productions, but the art behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most popular titles globally and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience challenges well-known building titles claiming status as most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these are games 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 the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
