Whenever a major awards ceremony approaches, you'll find an outcry for the addition of new categories to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of fans dedicated to specific genres.
Another commentator made the case supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. So would tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist for pushing forward because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and important of all. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and inevitably spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. But it is an essential concession within the realm of video games, showing incredible range they hardly constitute a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these award types effectively encompass numerous genres, allowing placement for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, 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. Which classification works between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games published annually without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated for anything that year
- Another imaginative release missed out that year
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked recently
- Limited numbers of puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among the most-played games in the world and have been for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with well-known building titles for the title of best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, while interacting with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Comparable to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
