Each time a major honors show draws close, one notices a demand for the addition of new categories to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer previously argued for a horror game category. That would rule. So would board games, which is someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request stands as crucial above others. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Categorizing Game Types
Classifying creative works is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason cinema institutions don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil for the industry of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they hardly constitute a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies currently feature classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-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
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers released every year lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked completely that year
- Another imaginative release was excluded in 2019
- A beloved organization game was overlooked that year
- Just some brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
These are often compact experiences, yet the craft of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Well-known matching games stand as most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title rivals well-known building titles competing to become most purchased experience; it also contends for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories in important events. Brain-teaser creators function at the demanding boundary game development, producing among the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
