As any major honors show approaches, you'll find an outcry to include additional classifications to honor overlooked contributions and fill the spirits of fans with niche passions.
My colleague made the case for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. The same goes for board games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request remains most pressing above others. Here's the proposal: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Categorizing Game Types
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains an essential concession in the world of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types successfully include numerous genres, and you can find room for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Consider three of this year’s best games, each quite distinct: building puzzles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly that have no home at major award shows, if they accidentally match classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated completely that year
- A different innovative game was excluded that year
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked that year
- Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, however the design in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among the most-played games worldwide maintaining this status for many years.
The famous puzzle experience rivals well-known building titles competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, while interacting with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators function at the demanding boundary of video game design, producing among essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Similar to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait generations.
