Whenever a major prize-giving event draws close, one notices an outcry for the addition of new categories to honor overlooked contributions and fill the passions of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. The same goes for tabletop games, representing someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward just as with other single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request stands as crucial and significant. Here's the proposal: There should be a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why cinema institutions don’t do it. Yet it remains an essential concession within the realm of video games, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies presently include award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types actually cover many game types, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Think about these recent excellent titles, all very different: building puzzles of one title, intense tile-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. What category would fit them between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition in any category that year
- A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked recently
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Well-known matching games stand as most engaged experiences in the world continuing this trend for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences for the title of most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging with almost every other genre.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the challenging frontier game development, creating some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
