As any significant honors show nears, you'll find a demand for the addition fresh award types to recognize underappreciated efforts and delight the spirits of followers dedicated to specific genres.
Another commentator made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, representing a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand is the most urgent above others. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it remains highly personal, and typically spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains an essential concession in the world of video games, which are so diverse they barely qualify one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types effectively encompass a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Consider three of outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: building puzzles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly that have no home during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition for anything during that awards season
- Another imaginative release was excluded in 2019
- Popular arranging title was overlooked in 2021
- Only a few logic titles scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences in the world maintaining this status for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these include experiences without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge interactive creation, creating some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Similar to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait decades.
