As any prominent honors show draws close, you'll find an outcry to include of new categories to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the passions of followers dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. The same goes for tabletop games, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front since similar to single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request stands as crucial above others. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that film award organizations don’t do it. Yet it remains a necessary evil in the world of gaming, which are so diverse they barely qualify as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications effectively encompass numerous genres, making space possible for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, all very different: building puzzles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. Which classification works between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition completely in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment recently
- Just some puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're small games, however the design of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges famous sandbox experiences claiming status as most purchased experience; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. One could readily select a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators operate at the challenging frontier of video game design, creating some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Comparable to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait generations.
