As any significant awards ceremony nears, one notices an outcry for introducing of new categories to recognize overlooked contributions and fill the spirits of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, representing someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize just as with other blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and important of all. Here's the proposal: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. But it is an essential concession in the world of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies presently include award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these six categories effectively encompass many game types, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, all very different: building puzzles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Which classification works between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category during that awards season
- Another imaginative release was excluded during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles rank among the most-played games in the world maintaining this status for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience competes with popular creative games claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, while interacting with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Puzzle game makers operate at the challenging frontier of video game design, creating some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
