Whenever a significant prize-giving event nears, one notices a clamor for introducing fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the passions of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague has already made for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. So would board games, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case supporting my request is the most urgent and important of all. Here's the proposal: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise within the realm of gaming, which are so diverse they barely qualify as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these classifications successfully include numerous genres, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to put them. Think about these this year’s best games, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. What category would fit them among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked in any category in 2014
- Another creative title was excluded during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game was overlooked recently
- Only a few puzzle games managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Well-known matching games rank among most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and engaging with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. It would be easy to populate five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these are games lacking appropriate categories in important events. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge interactive creation, creating some of essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait generations.
