As any major awards ceremony approaches, you'll find an outcry for the addition of new categories to honor unsung work and satisfy the passions of followers who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. The same goes for tabletop games, which is someone's personal cause. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case for why my demand stands as crucial above others. The demand is this: It's essential to create a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason film award organizations don’t do it. However, it represents a necessary evil for the industry of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these classifications actually cover numerous genres, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: building puzzles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. What category would fit them among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly that have no home at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition in any category during that awards season
- Another creative title received no nominations during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment recently
- Limited numbers of logic titles scraped into niche award types
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent compact experiences, yet the craft of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most popular titles worldwide continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home in important events. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge interactive creation, developing some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
