As any prominent awards ceremony nears, there’s always a demand for introducing fresh award types to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the passions of enthusiasts with niche passions.
Another commentator made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would board games, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. The demand is this: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and it will always generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an essential concession within the realm of gaming, showing incredible range they barely qualify a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards presently include classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types actually cover numerous genres, allowing placement for numerous titles.
Not so for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Think about these recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: building puzzles of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Which classification works between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked completely that year
- A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
- Popular arranging title was overlooked recently
- Only a few puzzle games scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most popular titles in the world continuing this trend for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience competes with famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. You could fill five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge of video game design, producing among essential manifestations of gaming itself. Comparable to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
