Each time a significant honors show draws close, there’s always an outcry to include fresh award types to recognize overlooked contributions and fill the passions of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
My colleague has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification supporting my request stands as crucial and significant. This is the request: It's essential to create a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and typically spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil in the world of gaming, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify one unified medium.
For the full spectrum of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these six categories effectively encompass a lot of ground, making space possible for numerous titles.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: building puzzles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year that have no home during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition completely during that awards season
- Another imaginative release missed out in 2019
- A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment recently
- Just some puzzle games barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games worldwide and have been for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, while interacting with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.
And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators operate at the challenging frontier game development, producing among most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Comparable to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Don't make them wait 35 years.
