Whenever a prominent honors show nears, there’s always an outcry for the addition of new categories to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the passions of followers who have specialized interests.
Another commentator previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would board games, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. This is the request: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and typically start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an essential concession within the realm of video games, showing incredible range they barely qualify as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these award types successfully include a lot of ground, and you can find room for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Think about these this year’s best games, each quite distinct: building puzzles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. What category would fit them between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home at major award shows, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category in 2014
- Another creative title received no nominations that year
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment in 2021
- Just some brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games count as most popular titles worldwide maintaining this status for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges famous sandbox experiences claiming status as most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. One could readily select multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators are working at the demanding boundary game development, creating some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Comparable to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay decades.
