Each time a significant prize-giving event draws close, one notices an outcry for the addition additional classifications to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and delight the passions of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
My colleague previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are board games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request is the most urgent and significant. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and typically start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason cinema institutions don’t do it. But it is an essential concession for the industry of video games, which are so diverse they barely qualify one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies currently feature award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications successfully include many game types, allowing placement for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. What category would fit them among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked completely in 2014
- Another imaginative release missed out during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title was overlooked in 2021
- Just some puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, but the art behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles count as most popular titles in the world and have been for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals famous sandbox experiences for the title of best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these represent titles that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers are working at the demanding boundary of video game design, developing some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait 35 years.
