As any major honors show draws close, one notices a demand to include fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and delight the hearts of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer previously argued for a horror game category. That would rule. Equally deserving are board games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that movie academies avoid this approach. But it is an essential concession in the world of gaming, showing incredible range they barely qualify a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these classifications successfully include a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Think about these recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles of one title, intense tile-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Which classification works between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated for anything during that awards season
- A different innovative game missed out during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent modest productions, however the design in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most engaged experiences in the world maintaining this status for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges popular creative games for the title of best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these are games lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the demanding boundary game development, developing some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Comparable to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait 35 years.
