Whenever a major prize-giving event approaches, you'll find a clamor for introducing fresh award types to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the passions of fans with niche passions.
My colleague previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. It would be amazing. Equally deserving are board games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand is the most urgent above others. Here's the proposal: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always generate discussions concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. But it is an essential concession for the industry of video games, which are so diverse they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these classifications successfully include a lot of ground, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: building puzzles of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Recognition Challenges
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.
- One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated in any category during that awards season
- A different innovative game missed out in 2019
- A beloved organization game was overlooked that year
- Just some puzzle games managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories
Value of Brain-Teasers
Frequently they represent small games, but the art in brain-teasers holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among the most-played games in the world maintaining this status for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.
Proposal and Rationale
Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. One could readily select multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.
To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators are working at the hard edge of video game design, creating some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay 35 years.
