Whenever a significant awards ceremony approaches, you'll find an outcry for the addition additional classifications to recognize overlooked contributions and fill the hearts of followers with niche passions.
A fellow writer previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. Equally deserving are board games, this being someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand is the most urgent above others. This is the request: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why cinema institutions avoid this approach. But it is an essential concession within the realm of gaming, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes 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, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears to put them. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, all very different: structural challenges of one title, intense tile-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles released every year lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition completely that year
- A different innovative game received no nominations that year
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Only a few logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're small games, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among the most-played games in the world and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, while interacting with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. You could fill five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators function at the challenging frontier game development, creating some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay decades.