As any significant awards ceremony draws close, you'll find an outcry for the addition of new categories to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of followers with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand is the most urgent and significant. This is the request: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and inevitably spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that movie academies avoid this approach. However, it represents a necessary evil within the realm of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications effectively encompass many game types, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to accommodate them. Think about these recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Which classification works between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated completely during that awards season
- Another creative title missed out during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment recently
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often small games, but the art behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles stand as the most-played games globally and have been for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with popular creative games competing to become highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. You could fill five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home in important events. Logic title developers function at the demanding boundary game development, developing some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait generations.
