Whenever a significant honors show nears, there’s always an outcry for introducing of new categories to recognize unsung work and satisfy the passions of fans dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. 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 single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. This is the request: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason movie academies avoid this approach. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise for the industry of video games, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments 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 currently feature classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications successfully include many game types, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges in a particular game, intense tile-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Which classification works between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually without proper recognition in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- Another imaginative release missed out during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title was overlooked in 2021
- Only a few puzzle games barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're modest productions, yet the craft of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as the most-played games in the world maintaining this status for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience competes with popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators operate at the demanding boundary of video game design, producing among the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
