Whenever a significant honors show nears, you'll find an outcry to include of new categories to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the hearts of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would tabletop games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification supporting my request is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. But it is an unavoidable compromise in the world of video games, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types actually cover many game types, and you can find room for numerous titles.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Think about these this year’s best games, each quite distinct: building puzzles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. What category would fit them among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked completely during that awards season
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment recently
- Only a few logic titles managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most popular titles worldwide maintaining this status for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. It would be easy to populate five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge interactive creation, creating some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like movie stunt professionals, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait decades.
