Each time a significant awards ceremony draws close, one notices a demand to include additional classifications to honor underappreciated efforts and delight the passions of enthusiasts with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. So would tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case for why my demand is the most urgent and significant. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and typically generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains a necessary evil for the industry of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types successfully include many game types, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly without proper recognition in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked for anything during that awards season
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game was overlooked recently
- Limited numbers of logic titles managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent modest productions, but the art behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games in the world continuing this trend for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with well-known building titles claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and engaging with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. One could readily select a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
Restating the point, these are games that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators function at the challenging frontier interactive creation, developing some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Comparable to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait decades.
