Whenever a prominent honors show nears, you'll find a demand for introducing additional classifications to honor overlooked contributions and delight the passions of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. So would strategy board titles, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand remains most pressing above others. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that film award organizations avoid this approach. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise within the realm of video games, which are so diverse they barely qualify a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Current Gaming Award Categories
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these classifications successfully include a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Think about these this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. What category would fit them between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles launched regularly lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely during that awards season
- Another creative title received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're small games, however the design of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games in the world maintaining this status for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals well-known building titles for the title of most purchased experience; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, while interacting with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. One could readily select multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these include experiences that otherwise have no home in important events. Brain-teaser creators are working at the challenging frontier interactive creation, creating some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.
