Each time a prominent honors show nears, you'll find a clamor for introducing of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal is the most urgent above others. Here's the proposal: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. However, it represents an essential concession for the industry of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies currently feature award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Think about these this year’s best games, all very different: building puzzles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition for anything during that awards season
- Another imaginative release missed out in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment that year
- Only a few logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
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 and have been for many years.
The famous puzzle experience competes with famous sandbox experiences for the title of most purchased experience; it also contends as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. You could fill a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators operate at the demanding boundary game development, developing some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
