Each time a major awards ceremony nears, there’s always an outcry to include fresh award types to recognize overlooked contributions and delight the spirits of enthusiasts with niche passions.
Another commentator made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would board games, which is someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize just as with other blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request stands as crucial above others. Here's the proposal: There should be a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it’s very subjective, and it will always start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. However, it represents a necessary evil for the industry of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: the architectural riddles of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens outstanding logic titles published annually without proper recognition at major award shows, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked completely that year
- Another imaginative release was excluded that year
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Just some puzzle games barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, but the art 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 challenges popular creative games claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these are games without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators operate at the hard edge interactive creation, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait decades.
