Each time a prominent honors show draws close, there’s always an outcry for introducing of new categories to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and fill the passions of fans with niche passions.
Another commentator previously argued for a horror game category. That would rule. So would strategy board titles, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case for why my demand remains most pressing and important of all. This is the request: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. But it is an essential concession within the realm of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature genre categories for Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types effectively encompass many game types, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges of one title, intense tile-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles released every year lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition for anything during that awards season
- Another creative title was excluded in 2019
- Popular arranging title was overlooked in 2021
- Only a few puzzle games scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often small games, yet the craft behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games globally maintaining this status for many years.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification in important events. Puzzle game makers operate at the challenging frontier of video game design, producing among the purest expressions of the video game form. Just like cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
