Whenever a prominent prize-giving event approaches, there’s always an outcry to include fresh award types to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and satisfy the passions of followers dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would strategy board titles, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. Here's the proposal: There should be an award type for logic-based games.
Classifying creative works isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and inevitably spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why movie academies avoid this approach. However, it represents an essential concession in the world of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute as a single art form.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.
Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories actually cover numerous genres, making space possible for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Which classification works within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.
Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers released every year lacking appropriate categories in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive independent game categories.
These are often modest productions, however the design of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most popular titles globally maintaining this status for an extended period.
The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.
Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. One could readily select a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories in important events. Puzzle game makers function at the demanding boundary game development, creating some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Just like film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.
A tech journalist with a passion for emerging technologies and digital innovation, exploring how tech shapes our daily lives.