As any significant honors show approaches, you'll find a demand to include fresh award types to acknowledge overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
My colleague has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification backing this proposal is the most urgent and important of all. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents a necessary evil for the industry of gaming, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies currently feature classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications actually cover many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles from a specific release, intense tile-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly without proper recognition in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked in any category in 2014
- A different innovative game received no nominations during that ceremony
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment that year
- Just some puzzle games managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent compact experiences, however the design behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games worldwide maintaining this status for many years.
The famous puzzle experience competes with popular creative games for the title of best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers function at the hard edge interactive creation, developing some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait generations.
