Each time a prominent awards ceremony nears, there’s always an outcry for introducing fresh award types to recognize unsung work and fill the passions of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer has already made for a horror game category. That would rule. So would tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front just as with other single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal is the most urgent and important of all. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and typically start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise within the realm of gaming, which are so diverse they barely qualify one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. What category would fit them between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles launched regularly without proper recognition in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title got ignored that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games barely qualified for niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among the most-played games in the world maintaining this status for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals famous sandbox experiences competing to become best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and engaging across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators function at the challenging frontier interactive creation, producing among most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
