As any prominent honors show approaches, there’s always an outcry for the addition of new categories to recognize overlooked contributions and fill the spirits of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
Another commentator previously argued for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would tabletop games, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. The demand is this: There should be a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and it will always generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that cinema institutions don’t do it. But it is an unavoidable compromise for the industry of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies currently feature classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types effectively encompass numerous genres, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Think about these recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Which classification works between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Only a few puzzle games scraped into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're small games, but the art of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles stand as the most-played games globally continuing this trend for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals well-known building titles competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, while interacting across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories in important events. Puzzle game makers operate at the challenging frontier interactive creation, developing some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait generations.
