Each time a prominent awards ceremony nears, you'll find a demand to include additional classifications to honor unsung work and fill the passions of fans who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would board games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. The demand is this: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and it will always start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason cinema institutions don’t do it. But it is an essential concession for the industry of gaming, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories effectively encompass numerous genres, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Think about these outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: building puzzles of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles published annually that have no home during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition in any category in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title got ignored that year
- Only a few brain-teasers scraped into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're modest productions, but the art of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games worldwide continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with well-known building titles competing to become best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, while interacting across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the challenging frontier interactive creation, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait 35 years.
