As any prominent awards ceremony draws close, there’s always a clamor for introducing of new categories to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the spirits of fans who have specialized interests.
My colleague previously argued for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would tabletop games, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification backing this proposal remains most pressing and significant. This is the request: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.
Organizing Gaming Categories
Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. But it is a necessary evil in the world of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.
For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.
Existing Game Classification System
The major gaming awards offer these genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these six categories actually cover numerous genres, allowing placement for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Think about these recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: the architectural riddles in a particular game, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. What category would fit them within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.
Recognition Challenges
Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games published annually that have no home during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- A renowned logic title got overlooked in any category during that awards season
- Another creative title missed out in 2019
- A beloved organization game got ignored in 2021
- Only a few logic titles barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most engaged experiences in the world continuing this trend for many years.
The legendary block-stacking game competes with famous sandbox experiences competing to become highest-selling title ever; it also contends as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.
Recommendation and Reasoning
Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.
Restating the point, these represent titles without proper classification at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators are working at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Comparable to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting generations.
