Each time a significant awards ceremony approaches, you'll find a demand to include fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and delight the hearts of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
Another commentator made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. So would tabletop games, which is someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. Here's the proposal: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents a necessary evil for the industry of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies currently feature genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types actually cover a lot of ground, making space possible for most games within them.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. What category would fit them among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly that have no home during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked completely during that awards season
- A different innovative game received no nominations that year
- Popular arranging title got ignored recently
- Just some puzzle games scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most popular titles globally continuing this trend for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges well-known building titles competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and engaging across multiple categories.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. You could fill a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles 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. Logic title developers operate at the demanding boundary of video game design, creating some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay generations.
