As any major awards ceremony draws close, there’s always a clamor for the addition fresh award types to honor overlooked contributions and delight the passions of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.
My colleague made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would board games, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front since similar to blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal stands as crucial and significant. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably start arguments concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise in the world of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify a single creative category.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies offer these award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types actually cover many game types, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games released every year lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated completely that year
- Another imaginative release 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 modest productions, however the design behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games globally maintaining this status for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, while interacting across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these represent titles that otherwise have no home in important events. Logic title developers function at the hard edge interactive creation, producing among the purest expressions of gaming itself. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay decades.
