Whenever a major awards ceremony nears, you'll find an outcry for the addition additional classifications to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the passions of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would board games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal stands as crucial above others. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and it will always generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. But it is an unavoidable compromise for the industry of gaming, showing incredible range they barely qualify a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards currently feature genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these award types actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Think about these recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges from a specific release, intense tile-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. What category would fit them between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, if they accidentally match classification types such as Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked completely in 2014
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment recently
- Only a few puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent small games, but the art in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most popular titles worldwide maintaining this status for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals popular creative games claiming status as most purchased experience; it also contends for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these are games that otherwise have no home in important events. Puzzle game makers operate at the challenging frontier interactive creation, developing some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay decades.
