Each time a major awards ceremony nears, one notices a demand to include of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and delight the passions of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would tabletop games, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent and important of all. This is the request: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason cinema institutions don’t do it. Yet it remains an essential concession for the industry of video games, which are so diverse they barely qualify as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies currently feature classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types actually cover many game types, allowing placement for most games within them.
Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Think about these outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked in any category during that awards season
- A different innovative game missed out that year
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked in 2021
- Limited numbers of puzzle games scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent modest productions, yet the craft behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as most popular titles globally maintaining this status for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals well-known building titles claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. One could readily select five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these include experiences that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators operate at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
