Each time a significant awards ceremony draws close, you'll find a demand for introducing fresh award types to acknowledge unsung work and fill the passions of followers who have specialized interests.
Another commentator previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. Equally deserving are tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case for why my demand is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. But it is an unavoidable compromise in the world of video games, showing incredible range they barely qualify as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories effectively encompass many game types, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games published annually that have no home at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition for anything during that awards season
- A different innovative game received no nominations during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of logic titles barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're small games, however the design behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as most popular titles in the world maintaining this status for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, while interacting with almost every other genre.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators function at the demanding boundary of video game design, producing among essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.
