As any prominent honors show draws close, there’s always a demand for the addition fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and satisfy the spirits of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
My colleague has already made supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal is the most urgent and important of all. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and typically start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why cinema institutions don’t do it. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise in the world of video games, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these six categories successfully include numerous genres, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to put them. Think about these recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely that year
- Another creative title missed out that year
- Popular arranging title was overlooked that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, however the design in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games in the world and have been for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges well-known building titles competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. One could readily select multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge interactive creation, producing among essential manifestations of gaming itself. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait decades.
