Each time a significant awards ceremony draws close, there’s always an outcry for the addition of new categories to honor unsung work and satisfy the hearts of followers who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer has already made for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, representing a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand remains most pressing above others. 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 inevitably spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason cinema institutions don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil within the realm of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards currently feature award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories actually cover numerous genres, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Think about these recent excellent titles, all very different: building puzzles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition in any category during that awards season
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games scraped into niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often modest productions, yet the craft of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games in the world continuing this trend for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with popular creative games claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these are games without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators are working at the hard edge game development, creating some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait decades.
