The Iconic Puzzle Game Wouldn't Succeed at The Game Awards — Another Award Type May Address This Issue
As any prominent awards ceremony draws close, there’s always a clamor for the addition of new categories to honor underappreciated efforts and satisfy the passions of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague has already made for a horror game category. That would rule. Equally deserving are board games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front since similar to blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification backing this proposal is the most urgent above others. This is the request: There should be a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason film award organizations don’t do it. Yet it remains an essential concession in the world of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories effectively encompass numerous genres, allowing placement for numerous titles.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to put them. Think about these outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated in any category that year
- A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked recently
- Only a few puzzle games scraped into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're small games, but the art behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most popular titles globally maintaining this status for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges well-known building titles claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification at major gaming awards. Logic title developers function at the demanding boundary interactive creation, producing among most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.