As any prominent awards ceremony draws close, one notices a clamor for the addition fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and delight the spirits of fans dedicated to specific genres.
Another commentator previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. The same goes for tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward just as with other single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent and important of all. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works is not a science; it remains highly personal, and inevitably start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise within the realm of video games, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards currently feature award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories actually cover many game types, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Think about these this year’s best games, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles released every year lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked in any category that year
- A different innovative game received no nominations that year
- A beloved organization game got ignored in 2021
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often compact experiences, however the design of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences globally and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it also contends for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. One could readily select multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home in important events. Brain-teaser creators operate at the hard edge of video game design, producing among the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait generations.
