Whenever a major awards ceremony draws close, one notices a demand for introducing additional classifications to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and satisfy the hearts of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
Another commentator has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. The same goes for tabletop games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that movie academies steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains a necessary evil for the industry of video games, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these award types successfully include numerous genres, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Think about these recent excellent titles, all very different: building puzzles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. Which classification works among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition completely that year
- Another imaginative release missed out in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
- Just some puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent modest productions, yet the craft in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most popular titles in the world and have been for many years.
The famous puzzle experience challenges popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and engaging with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers function at the challenging frontier of video game design, producing among essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay decades.