As any major awards ceremony approaches, you'll find an outcry for introducing fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and satisfy the spirits of fans who have specialized interests.
Another commentator has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would tabletop games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front just as with other blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. The demand is this: It's essential to create a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works is not a science; it’s very subjective, and inevitably spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that film award organizations avoid this approach. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise in the world of video games, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games 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, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types effectively encompass many game types, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, all very different: building puzzles of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers published annually without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked in any category that year
- Another imaginative release received no nominations that year
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored in 2021
- Just some puzzle games scraped into independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most popular titles worldwide continuing this trend for many years.
The famous puzzle experience competes with popular creative games claiming status as most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home in important events. Puzzle game makers function at the hard edge of video game design, producing among essential manifestations of the video game form. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay generations.
