Whenever a major awards ceremony nears, one notices an outcry for introducing fresh award types to honor unsung work and delight the spirits of followers with niche passions.
Another commentator has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case for why my demand is the most urgent and important of all. This is the request: There should be a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it remains highly personal, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. But it is an essential concession within the realm of video games, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of achievement in video games to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications successfully include many game types, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, all very different: structural challenges from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked in any category during that awards season
- A different innovative game was excluded during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game was overlooked in 2021
- Only a few logic titles barely qualified for niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most engaged experiences globally and have been for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with famous sandbox experiences competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier of video game design, producing among most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
