Whenever a major awards ceremony approaches, one notices a demand for introducing fresh award types to recognize unsung work and satisfy the hearts of fans with niche passions.
A fellow writer previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. The same goes for tabletop games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist for pushing forward since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent and significant. This is the request: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why movie academies don’t do it. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise for the industry of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards currently feature classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room for numerous titles.
Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Think about these outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked completely in 2014
- Another creative title missed out during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored that year
- Only a few logic titles managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most popular titles worldwide continuing this trend for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals famous sandbox experiences competing to become best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games without proper classification at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge interactive creation, creating some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
