Whenever a major awards ceremony nears, there’s always an outcry for introducing fresh award types to honor unsung work and delight the hearts of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would tabletop games, this being someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize just as with other blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. Here's the proposal: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why cinema institutions don’t do it. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise in the world of gaming, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these six categories successfully include numerous genres, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, all very different: the architectural riddles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur of brilliant puzzle games published annually lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated in any category during that awards season
- Another creative title was excluded during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked in 2021
- Limited numbers of puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent small games, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as most popular titles worldwide and have been for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games claiming status as most purchased experience; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, while interacting across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. It would be easy to populate a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators operate at the hard edge of video game design, creating some of the purest expressions of gaming itself. Similar to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
