As any significant prize-giving event approaches, one notices an outcry for the addition of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and satisfy the passions of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. So would board games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and it will always generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. But it is an essential concession for the industry of video games, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
Leading game ceremonies currently feature classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types successfully include numerous genres, making space possible for numerous titles.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to put them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: building puzzles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens excellent brain-teasers published annually lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- One classic puzzle game received no recognition for anything that year
- A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
- Well-received sorting experience was overlooked in 2021
- Just some puzzle games scraped into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Commonly they're small games, however the design of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games worldwide and have been for many years.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging with almost every other genre.
Proposal and Rationale
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories in important events. Brain-teaser creators operate at the challenging frontier of video game design, producing among the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
