Each time a prominent awards ceremony nears, you'll find an outcry to include additional classifications to recognize unsung work and fill the spirits of fans with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. That would rule. Equally deserving are tabletop games, which is someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal stands as crucial and important of all. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that film award organizations don’t do it. However, it represents a necessary evil within the realm of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types actually cover numerous genres, allowing placement for most games within them.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely that year
- A different innovative game missed out in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked that year
- Only a few brain-teasers managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent compact experiences, yet the craft behind logic titles is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most popular titles worldwide continuing this trend for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience competes with famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, while interacting across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. One could readily select multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Puzzle game makers function at the hard edge game development, creating some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait generations.
