As any major awards ceremony nears, there’s always a demand to include additional classifications to acknowledge overlooked contributions and delight the spirits of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would strategy board titles, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification supporting my request is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: It's essential to create a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that movie academies don’t do it. Yet it remains an essential concession for the industry of video games, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types effectively encompass a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, intense tile-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles launched regularly lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, except when they manage to fit award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition completely in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
- Just some brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often small games, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most engaged experiences worldwide continuing this trend for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and engaging with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have 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.
Restating the point, these represent titles that otherwise have no home in important events. Logic title developers operate at the demanding boundary game development, developing some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Just like movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
