Each time a major awards ceremony draws close, you'll find an outcry to include of new categories to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the spirits of fans with niche passions.
Another commentator made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are board games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification supporting my request is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it’s very subjective, and it will always start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that film award organizations don’t do it. However, it represents a necessary evil for the industry of gaming, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications actually cover many game types, and you can find room for most games within them.
Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Think about these this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges from a specific release, intense tile-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers published annually without proper recognition in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- Another imaginative release received no nominations during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title got ignored in 2021
- Just some brain-teasers managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're compact experiences, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among the most-played games in the world and have been for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges well-known building titles claiming status as most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, while interacting across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
Restating the point, these are games without proper classification in important events. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge interactive creation, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay decades.
