As any major prize-giving event approaches, one notices an outcry for introducing additional classifications to acknowledge unsung work and delight the spirits of fans who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason movie academies avoid this approach. But it is a necessary evil in the world of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards currently feature award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these classifications actually cover many game types, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Which classification works between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers published annually that have no home at major award shows, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
- Another imaginative release was excluded that year
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment recently
- Just some brain-teasers managed to sneak into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent modest productions, but the art of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, while interacting with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these are games lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators are working at the hard edge of video game design, creating some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay decades.
