As any major awards ceremony nears, you'll find an outcry for introducing of new categories to acknowledge overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of followers with niche passions.
Another commentator has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case for why my demand remains most pressing above others. This is the request: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and typically spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason film award organizations don’t do it. However, it represents an essential concession for the industry of video games, which are so diverse they barely qualify a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these classifications actually cover many game types, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges in a particular game, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers barely qualified for niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're modest productions, yet the craft of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as most engaged experiences in the world maintaining this status for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it also contends for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers function at the demanding boundary interactive creation, producing among essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Just like cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
