Whenever a significant awards ceremony nears, one notices a clamor for the addition fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and fill the spirits of followers dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request remains most pressing above others. This is the request: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason film award organizations don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil in the world of video games, showing incredible range they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers launched regularly without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition in any category that year
- A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored recently
- Limited numbers of logic titles barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often modest productions, but the art behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences worldwide continuing this trend for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it also contends as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, while interacting with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these include experiences that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier of video game design, developing some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
