As any prominent awards ceremony draws close, there’s always an outcry for the addition of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and delight the spirits of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification backing this proposal remains most pressing and significant. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and inevitably spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that movie academies don’t do it. Yet it remains an essential concession for the industry of video games, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. What category would fit them among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles released every year lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated in any category in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of logic titles managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games worldwide and have been for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges famous sandbox experiences claiming status as most purchased experience; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. You could fill a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators operate at the hard edge interactive creation, creating some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait 35 years.
