Each time a prominent prize-giving event nears, there’s always an outcry for introducing of new categories to honor underappreciated efforts and delight the passions of followers with niche passions.
A fellow writer previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would tabletop games, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front because like all single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal is the most urgent above others. This is the request: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and typically generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why cinema institutions don’t do it. However, it represents a necessary evil within the realm of video games, which are so diverse they hardly constitute a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards currently feature classifications covering Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these six categories effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Consider three of outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Which classification works between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games published annually without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- One classic puzzle game got overlooked for anything that year
- Another imaginative release received no nominations in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience got ignored in 2021
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, yet the craft in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games in the world and have been for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game challenges famous sandbox experiences claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, while interacting with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these are games without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers are working at the hard edge of video game design, producing among most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Similar to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
