Each time a significant awards ceremony approaches, one notices an outcry for introducing additional classifications to recognize unsung work and fill the passions of enthusiasts with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. The same goes for tabletop games, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case for why my demand is the most urgent above others. This is the request: There should be a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and typically start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why movie academies avoid this approach. However, it represents a necessary evil in the world of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards presently include award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories actually cover numerous genres, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: building puzzles of one title, intense tile-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated for anything that year
- Another creative title was excluded in 2019
- Popular arranging title got ignored recently
- Just some logic titles scraped into independent or mobile categories
Importance of Logic Titles
Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most popular titles globally continuing this trend for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with famous sandbox experiences for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers function at the demanding boundary of video game design, developing some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
