As any significant honors show nears, you'll find an outcry for the addition of new categories to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
Another commentator made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist for pushing forward since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing and significant. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works is not a science; it remains highly personal, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of gaming, showing incredible range they barely qualify as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types actually cover many game types, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Think about these outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: building puzzles from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers released every year lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition completely in 2014
- Another imaginative release received no nominations that year
- A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment that year
- Only a few logic titles managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games globally continuing this trend for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games competing to become highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, 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 a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers operate at the challenging frontier game development, creating some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
