As any major awards ceremony approaches, there’s always an outcry for introducing additional classifications to acknowledge overlooked contributions and satisfy the passions of followers with niche passions.
My colleague made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are board games, representing someone's personal cause. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front because like all single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand remains most pressing above others. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Classifying creative works isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and it will always start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. But it is a necessary evil for the industry of gaming, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types successfully include many game types, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Not so for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges from a specific release, intense tile-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. What category would fit them among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
These are often small games, yet the craft in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience challenges well-known building titles competing to become most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers are working at the demanding boundary of video game design, developing some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
