As any prominent awards ceremony draws close, you'll find an outcry for introducing additional classifications to honor overlooked contributions and fill the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist when I prioritize just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and it will always start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. However, it represents an essential concession for the industry of video games, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of achievement in video games to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications successfully include a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, all very different: 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 between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked completely during that awards season
- Another creative title was excluded that year
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most popular titles worldwide and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience challenges famous sandbox experiences claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these are games that otherwise have no home in important events. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier of video game design, creating some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
