As any major awards ceremony nears, one notices an outcry to include fresh award types to honor unsung work and satisfy the passions of followers who have specialized interests.
Another commentator made the case for a horror game category. That would rule. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, which is someone's personal cause. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and important of all. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. But it is an essential concession within the realm of gaming, which are so diverse they barely qualify one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of achievement in video games to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications effectively encompass many game types, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. What category would fit them among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles launched regularly lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything in 2014
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Just some logic titles barely qualified for niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent small games, however the design in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most engaged experiences globally continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges famous sandbox experiences for the title of highest-selling title ever; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging with almost every other genre.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these include experiences that otherwise have no home in important events. Logic title developers operate at the demanding boundary of video game design, creating some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Just like movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
