Whenever a prominent honors show nears, you'll find an outcry for the addition of new categories to acknowledge overlooked contributions and fill the passions of fans with niche passions.
My colleague made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front since similar to blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that film award organizations don’t do it. But it is an unavoidable compromise within the realm of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they hardly constitute one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types successfully include many game types, making space possible for most games within them.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Which classification works within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything in 2014
- Another creative title was excluded in 2019
- A beloved organization game was overlooked recently
- Limited numbers of puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games globally continuing this trend for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games for the title of most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and engaging with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. One could readily select a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators function at the hard edge game development, producing among essential manifestations of the video game form. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
