As any prominent awards ceremony approaches, there’s always an outcry for introducing of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and delight the passions of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague has already made for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. So would strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent above others. This is the request: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and it will always start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise for the industry of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they hardly constitute a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies offer these genre categories for Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types successfully include many game types, and you can find room for numerous titles.
Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: structural challenges of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles released every year lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked in any category in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out that year
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of logic titles barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games count as the most-played games in the world continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators function at the demanding boundary of video game design, creating some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait 35 years.