Each time a prominent awards ceremony nears, you'll find a clamor to include of new categories to honor overlooked contributions and fill the passions of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer previously argued for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would board games, which is someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing above others. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. But it is a necessary evil for the industry of video games, showing incredible range they barely qualify one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards presently include classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these six categories effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Think about these outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games published annually without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition completely that year
- Another creative title missed out during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title was overlooked in 2021
- Only a few logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games in the world and have been for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals well-known building titles for the title of best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay decades.
