Whenever a prominent prize-giving event nears, one notices an outcry for introducing of new categories to acknowledge unsung work and fill the passions of fans dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague made the case for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. So would tabletop games, which is someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front just as with other single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request stands as crucial above others. The demand is this: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that film award organizations don’t do it. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise within the realm of gaming, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types effectively encompass many game types, making space possible accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, all very different: the architectural riddles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. What category would fit them between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked in any category in 2014
- Another imaginative release missed out that year
- Popular arranging title got ignored recently
- Just some logic titles scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most engaged experiences worldwide maintaining this status for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges popular creative games for the title of most purchased experience; it also contends for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and engaging with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. It would be easy to populate a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these are games that otherwise have no home in important events. Brain-teaser creators are working at the demanding boundary interactive creation, creating some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
