Whenever a significant prize-giving event draws close, you'll find a demand for the addition fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and satisfy the hearts of fans who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. The same goes for 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 supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and inevitably generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise within the realm of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these award types actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games published annually that have no home during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated in any category that year
- A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked that year
- Just some puzzle games managed to sneak into niche award types
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as the most-played games globally continuing this trend for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with well-known building titles claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it also contends as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. You could fill a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
And to reiterate, these are games that otherwise have no home in important events. Puzzle game makers operate at the demanding boundary of video game design, creating some of essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
