Each time a major honors show draws close, you'll find a demand for the addition fresh award types to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the passions of fans dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. So would strategy board titles, representing a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification supporting my request is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works is not a science; it’s very subjective, and typically spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. But it is an unavoidable compromise within the realm of video games, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to put them. Think about these outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: building puzzles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- Another creative title missed out that year
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked recently
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers managed to sneak into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most popular titles in the world and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and engaging with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the demanding boundary interactive creation, developing some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Similar to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait decades.
