Each time a major prize-giving event draws close, you'll find a clamor for introducing additional classifications to recognize underappreciated efforts and satisfy the hearts of enthusiasts with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. The same goes for board games, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it’s very subjective, and typically spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason film award organizations don’t do it. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these six categories successfully include many game types, and you can find room for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Consider three of outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: building puzzles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. What category would fit them among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title got ignored in 2021
- Only a few logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent modest productions, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among the most-played games globally and have been for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with well-known building titles claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge interactive creation, creating some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
