As any significant honors show draws close, you'll find an outcry for the addition of new categories to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and delight the hearts of fans with niche passions.
A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. That would rule. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist for pushing forward since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing above others. This is the request: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and it will always generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason movie academies avoid this approach. Yet it remains an essential concession for the industry of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types actually cover many game types, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges in a particular game, intense tile-matching of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles launched regularly lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition in any category during that awards season
- Another imaginative release received no nominations during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game got ignored recently
- Just some brain-teasers managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent compact experiences, however the design of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles count as most engaged experiences globally maintaining this status for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, while interacting with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Logic title developers function at the hard edge of video game design, creating some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
