Whenever a prominent honors show nears, you'll find a demand to include fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and fill the passions of fans with niche passions.
My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would board games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front because like all single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand stands as crucial and important of all. The demand is this: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and inevitably start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why movie academies don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil in the world of video games, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room for numerous titles.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: building puzzles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. What category would fit them among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers launched regularly lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated in any category during that awards season
- A different innovative game received no nominations during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game was overlooked in 2021
- Only a few puzzle games scraped into niche award types
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent compact experiences, however the design in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most engaged experiences globally continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. You could fill five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories in important events. Brain-teaser creators are working at the demanding boundary interactive creation, producing among most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.
