As any significant honors show nears, you'll find an outcry for introducing fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of enthusiasts with niche passions.
Another commentator made the case for a horror game category. That would rule. Equally deserving are tabletop games, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that film award organizations don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil within the realm of video games, which are so diverse they barely qualify one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to put them. Think about these this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges in a particular game, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. What category would fit them among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games published annually that have no home during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition in any category during that awards season
- A different innovative game missed out in 2019
- Popular arranging title was overlooked in 2021
- Only a few puzzle games managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often compact experiences, however the design behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among the most-played games in the world maintaining this status for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and engaging with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. You could fill five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
Restating the point, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators are working at the challenging frontier game development, developing some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.
