Each time a major prize-giving event draws close, one notices a demand for introducing fresh award types to recognize unsung work and delight the passions of followers with niche passions.
My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, representing a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it’s very subjective, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these six categories successfully include numerous genres, making space possible for numerous titles.
Not so for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Consider three of recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges in a particular game, intense tile-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games published annually lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition completely during that awards season
- A different innovative game missed out that year
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored that year
- Limited numbers of logic titles barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as the most-played games worldwide and have been for over a decade.
The famous puzzle experience challenges famous sandbox experiences for the title of highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. One could readily select a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers function at the challenging frontier of video game design, developing some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Just like film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait generations.
