Whenever a prominent awards ceremony draws close, you'll find a demand to include fresh award types to recognize underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
Another commentator has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. So would tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal remains most pressing and significant. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and typically start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. But it is an unavoidable compromise for the industry of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories actually cover many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. What category would fit them between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly that have no home in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category in 2014
- A different innovative game missed out that year
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored in 2021
- Just some logic titles barely qualified for niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, yet the craft in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games in the world continuing this trend for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games for the title of most purchased experience; it also contends for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. One could readily select multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators operate at the challenging frontier game development, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
