Each time a significant prize-giving event draws close, there’s always an outcry for the addition additional classifications to honor unsung work and fill the passions of enthusiasts with niche passions.
Another commentator has already made for a horror game category. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand remains most pressing and important of all. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that movie academies steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise within the realm of gaming, which are so diverse they hardly constitute 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, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these six categories successfully include many game types, allowing placement for numerous titles.
Not so for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers published annually lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game was excluded that year
- A beloved organization game was overlooked in 2021
- Just some brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent modest productions, yet the craft in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games worldwide maintaining this status for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals well-known building titles for the title of highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. One could readily select five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers function at the hard edge of video game design, creating some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait generations.
