As any significant prize-giving event nears, you'll find an outcry for introducing additional classifications to acknowledge overlooked contributions and delight the spirits of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. The same goes for tabletop games, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification supporting my request stands as crucial and significant. The demand is this: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and inevitably spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents a necessary evil for the industry of video games, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories effectively encompass a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Not so for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Consider three of outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Which classification works within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition in any category in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game was overlooked recently
- Limited numbers of puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games rank among most popular titles globally continuing this trend for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges popular creative games for the title of best-selling game of all time; it also contends as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. It would be easy to populate a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers function at the hard edge game development, producing among the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Similar to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait generations.
