Tetris Wouldn't Win at The Game Awards — Another Award Type May Address This Issue
As any prominent awards ceremony nears, you'll find an outcry for introducing fresh award types to recognize overlooked contributions and satisfy the spirits of followers dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer has already made supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. So would strategy board titles, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist for pushing forward because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. This is the request: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why movie academies steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards currently feature genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement for most games within them.
This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition in entertainment awards, if they accidentally match for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category during that awards season
- Another creative title missed out during that ceremony
- A beloved organization game got ignored that year
- Just some brain-teasers scraped into small studio or handheld classifications
Significance of Puzzle Games
Frequently they represent modest productions, but the art in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most engaged experiences worldwide and have been for an extended period.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, and engaging with almost every other genre.
The Solution and Justification
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. You could fill a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
Restating the point, these include experiences without proper classification in important events. Logic title developers function at the challenging frontier game development, producing among essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.