Each time a prominent prize-giving event draws close, one notices an outcry for the addition fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and satisfy the spirits of followers who have specialized interests.
Another commentator made the case supporting a scary games classification. That would be fantastic. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case supporting my request is the most urgent and important of all. This is the request: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and typically generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why movie academies avoid this approach. But it is an essential concession for the industry of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they barely qualify a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies presently include genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications successfully include numerous genres, making space possible for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Consider three of outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Acknowledgment Issues
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely in 2014
- Another creative title missed out that year
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
- Only a few puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, however the design of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most popular titles worldwide maintaining this status for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these are games that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers function at the hard edge game development, developing some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay generations.
