Whenever a prominent prize-giving event nears, you'll find a demand for introducing fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and delight the hearts of followers with niche passions.
Another commentator has already made for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front since similar to blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal stands as crucial and important of all. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that movie academies avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil in the world of video games, showing incredible range they barely qualify as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types successfully include many game types, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers released every year that have no home during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition completely in 2014
- Another creative title was excluded in 2019
- A beloved organization game was overlooked recently
- Limited numbers of puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, however the design in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most engaged experiences in the world and have been for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories in important events. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge of video game design, producing among essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait generations.
