As any significant honors show nears, you'll find a clamor for introducing additional classifications to recognize unsung work and delight the hearts of enthusiasts with niche passions.
A fellow writer previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. This is the request: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and typically start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why film award organizations don’t do it. Yet it remains a necessary evil for the industry of video games, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types effectively encompass a lot of ground, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Think about these recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles in a particular game, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated for anything that year
- A different innovative game received no nominations during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked recently
- Just some puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as most popular titles globally continuing this trend for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals well-known building titles claiming status as most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, while interacting with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier interactive creation, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait generations.
