Whenever a prominent honors show approaches, there’s always a clamor for the addition of new categories to honor overlooked contributions and delight the spirits of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
Another commentator made the case for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. The same goes for tabletop games, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand stands as crucial and important of all. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Categorizing Game Types
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil in the world of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these classifications effectively encompass a lot of ground, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Consider three of this year’s best games, each quite distinct: building puzzles of one title, intense tile-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles published annually that have no home at major award shows, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title received no recognition for anything during that awards season
- Another imaginative release missed out during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as the most-played games globally continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges popular creative games claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and engaging with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators operate at the hard edge interactive creation, developing some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Similar to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay decades.
