🔗 Share this article

Each time a major awards ceremony nears, there’s always a demand to include additional classifications to recognize overlooked contributions and satisfy the passions of fans dedicated to specific genres.

A fellow writer previously argued for a horror game category. It would be amazing. So would strategy board titles, this being a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. Here's the proposal: There should be a category for puzzle games.

Categorizing Game Types

Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of gaming, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.

For the full spectrum of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.

Present Award Structure

The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these award types successfully include many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.

Not so for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. What category would fit them among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.

Recognition Challenges

Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers published annually without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.

• An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely during that awards season
• Another creative title was excluded that year
• Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment in 2021
• Limited numbers of puzzle games scraped into niche award types

Significance of Puzzle Games

Frequently they represent modest productions, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games stand as most engaged experiences globally continuing this trend for many years.

The legendary block-stacking game challenges well-known building titles claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and engaging across multiple categories.

The Solution and Justification

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.

Restating the point, these are games without proper classification at major gaming awards. Logic title developers operate at the demanding boundary game development, creating some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.