Tetris Didn't Win at The Game Awards — An Additional Classification Might Solve This
Each time a prominent honors show approaches, one notices a clamor to include fresh award types to recognize unsung work and satisfy the hearts of followers who have specialized interests.
A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist for pushing forward because like all single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal is the most urgent and important of all. This is the request: We need a category for puzzle games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it’s very subjective, and typically start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that movie academies steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an essential concession within the realm of gaming, which are so diverse they hardly constitute one unified medium.
To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.
Existing Game Classification System
Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these genre categories for Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these classifications successfully include many game types, and you can find room for most games within them.
Not so for brain-teasing titles. No suitable classification appears to put them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, each quite distinct: building puzzles of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging Indie races.
- An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated for anything that year
- Another creative title missed out in 2019
- Popular arranging title got ignored that year
- Just some logic titles barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Value of Brain-Teasers
These are often small games, but the art of the puzzle game carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games count as the most-played games globally maintaining this status for an extended period.
The iconic tile-matching title challenges famous sandbox experiences for the title of best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, and engaging across multiple categories.
Proposal and Rationale
Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. You could fill five nominees interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.
And to reiterate, these are games without proper classification at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators operate at the challenging frontier interactive creation, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.