Tetris Couldn't Win at The Game Awards — A New Category May Address This Issue
As any prominent honors show nears, there’s always a clamor for introducing fresh award types to acknowledge unsung work and satisfy the spirits of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.
Another commentator previously argued for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. The same goes for board games, which is a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front since similar to blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case for why my demand stands as crucial and important of all. This is the request: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and it will always generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that movie academies avoid this approach. However, it represents an unavoidable compromise for the industry of gaming, showing incredible range they barely qualify a single creative category.
For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.
Current Gaming Award Categories
Leading game ceremonies presently include classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these award types successfully include many game types, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.
Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Consider three of recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. What category would fit them among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
Acknowledgment Issues
Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly without proper recognition in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition in any category that year
- A different innovative game was excluded that year
- Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment recently
- Only a few logic titles managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent modest productions, yet the craft of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most popular titles globally and have been for over a decade.
The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and engaging with almost every other genre.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.
To emphasize again, these represent titles that otherwise have no home in important events. Puzzle game makers are working at the hard edge of video game design, creating some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.