Whenever a significant prize-giving event approaches, there’s always a clamor for introducing additional classifications to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of followers dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would strategy board titles, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. However, it represents a necessary evil in the world of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these six categories effectively encompass many game types, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Not so for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Think about these this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles launched regularly that have no home at major award shows, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked in any category in 2014
- Another creative title received no nominations during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Limited numbers of logic titles scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most popular titles worldwide maintaining this status for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals popular creative games competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and engaging with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories in important events. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Just like cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay decades.
