Whenever a prominent honors show draws close, there’s always a demand for the addition of new categories to honor overlooked contributions and delight the passions of followers with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize because like all single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and typically spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why film award organizations don’t do it. But it is an essential concession within the realm of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges in a particular game, intense tile-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Which classification works between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home at major award shows, if they accidentally match award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category during that awards season
- A different innovative game was excluded that year
- A beloved organization game was overlooked in 2021
- Just some logic titles barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Well-known matching games stand as most popular titles globally maintaining this status for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals famous sandbox experiences claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, while interacting with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. One could readily select five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these include experiences without proper classification at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators function at the hard edge interactive creation, producing among most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
