Each time a significant honors show nears, you'll find a demand for the addition fresh award types to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the spirits of fans with niche passions.
A fellow writer previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front because like all single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. Here's the proposal: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. But it is a necessary evil within the realm of gaming, which are so diverse they hardly constitute as a single art form.
To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications successfully include numerous genres, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Consider three of outstanding current releases, all very different: structural challenges of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked for anything in 2014
- A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment in 2021
- Just some puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles count as most engaged experiences globally continuing this trend for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.
Restating the point, these represent titles that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge of video game design, producing among the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Just like movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.
