As any prominent awards ceremony nears, you'll find a clamor to include of new categories to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and delight the hearts of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for board games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize just as with other single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal is the most urgent above others. This is the request: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that movie academies steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of gaming, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies currently feature genre categories for Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, all very different: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. What category would fit them between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers 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 Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated in any category in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations that year
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored in 2021
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games rank among most popular titles in the world and have been for many years.
The famous puzzle experience challenges famous sandbox experiences competing to become most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers function at the demanding boundary interactive creation, creating some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay generations.
