Whenever a prominent awards ceremony draws close, one notices an outcry for the addition fresh award types to honor unsung work and satisfy the hearts of fans with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would board games, representing someone's personal cause. However, I must insist for pushing forward just as with other blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand stands as crucial above others. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it’s very subjective, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why movie academies avoid this approach. But it is a necessary evil within the realm of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they hardly constitute one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types actually cover many game types, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Which classification works among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers released every year that have no home at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition for anything in 2014
- Another imaginative release missed out that year
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked recently
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent compact experiences, however the design in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games worldwide maintaining this status for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. It would be easy to populate five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these are games lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators operate at the demanding boundary of video game design, developing some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Just like movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
