As any prominent awards ceremony nears, there’s always a clamor to include additional classifications to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would strategy board titles, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications successfully include many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Which classification works between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated for anything during that awards season
- A different innovative game missed out during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title was overlooked recently
- Only a few logic titles barely qualified for niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're compact experiences, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as most popular titles globally maintaining this status for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience challenges famous sandbox experiences claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and engaging with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. One could readily select multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators function at the demanding boundary of video game design, developing some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay decades.
