Each time a prominent awards ceremony approaches, you'll find a clamor to include of new categories to recognize overlooked contributions and fill the passions of followers who have specialized interests.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent above others. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and inevitably start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that cinema institutions don’t do it. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of video games, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications actually cover numerous genres, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, all very different: structural challenges from a specific release, intense tile-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers released every year that have no home at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked in any category that year
- A different innovative game missed out that year
- A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment recently
- Only a few logic titles managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most engaged experiences in the world continuing this trend for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience challenges well-known building titles for the title of most purchased experience; it also contends for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
Restating the point, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers function at the challenging frontier of video game design, producing among essential manifestations of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
