Each time a significant awards ceremony nears, you'll find a demand for introducing fresh award types to acknowledge overlooked contributions and fill the spirits of fans with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would strategy board titles, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist for pushing forward because like all single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand stands as crucial and important of all. The demand is this: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. But it is an essential concession in the world of video games, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications successfully include a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Think about these outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly without proper recognition in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition completely in 2014
- Another creative title received no nominations during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked recently
- Just some logic titles barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
These are often compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most popular titles globally maintaining this status for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience rivals famous sandbox experiences for the title of best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. You could fill multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Logic title developers are working at the demanding boundary game development, developing some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait generations.
