As any significant prize-giving event nears, one notices a demand to include of new categories to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the passions of fans with niche passions.
My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would board games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal remains most pressing and important of all. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that movie academies steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise within the realm of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies currently feature award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types successfully include a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Think about these outstanding current releases, all very different: structural challenges from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. What category would fit them between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked completely that year
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment that year
- Just some brain-teasers managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, but the art behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most engaged experiences globally and have been for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges well-known building titles competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. One could readily select a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these represent titles that otherwise have no home in important events. Brain-teaser creators function at the hard edge interactive creation, creating some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay generations.
