Whenever a major honors show nears, you'll find a demand to include of new categories to acknowledge unsung work and fill the hearts of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague made the case for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are tabletop games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case supporting my request is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and inevitably start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of video games, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Think about these this year’s best games, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles launched regularly without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything that year
- Another creative title was excluded in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked recently
- Only a few puzzle games barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often modest productions, yet the craft in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals popular creative games for the title of highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home in important events. Puzzle game makers are working at the hard edge game development, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
