Whenever a major awards ceremony nears, there’s always a demand for the addition of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and satisfy the passions of fans dedicated to specific genres.
Another commentator has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would board games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist for pushing forward because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal remains most pressing and significant. This is the request: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and typically generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason film award organizations don’t do it. Yet it remains an essential concession within the realm of video games, which are so diverse they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include genre categories for Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types successfully include many game types, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Consider three of recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: building puzzles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles released every year without proper recognition in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations that year
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored recently
- Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most popular titles in the world and have been for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these are games that otherwise have no home in important events. Brain-teaser creators operate at the challenging frontier of video game design, developing some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Comparable to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay decades.
