As any major honors show nears, you'll find a clamor for introducing of new categories to honor unsung work and fill the hearts of fans with niche passions.
My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would board games, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front since similar to single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request remains most pressing above others. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and typically start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why movie academies steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise in the world of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies currently feature classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories actually cover many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.
Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition for anything during that awards season
- A different innovative game received no nominations that year
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Just some brain-teasers barely qualified for niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're small games, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as most engaged experiences in the world continuing this trend for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges popular creative games for the title of highest-selling title ever; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
Restating the point, these are games without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators operate at the demanding boundary interactive creation, developing some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait decades.
