Whenever a significant honors show approaches, one notices a clamor for introducing fresh award types to acknowledge unsung work and delight the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague has already made for a horror game category. That would rule. Equally deserving are tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front since similar to blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification backing this proposal stands as crucial and significant. Here's the proposal: There should be a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and it will always generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason movie academies don’t do it. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of gaming, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards currently feature award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Consider three of this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything that year
- Another imaginative release missed out in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Just some logic titles managed to sneak into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent small games, but the art in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games globally continuing this trend for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals famous sandbox experiences claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, while interacting with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. One could readily select a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these are games without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers are working at the demanding boundary game development, creating some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay decades.
