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Each time a significant honors show nears, one notices a demand for the addition of new categories to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the passions of fans with niche passions.

My colleague made the case for a horror game category. That would rule. So would tabletop games, which is someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front just as with other single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification backing this proposal remains most pressing and important of all. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.

Categorizing Game Types

Classifying creative works isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and inevitably generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why movie academies avoid this approach. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.

For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.

Existing Game Classification System

Leading game ceremonies presently include award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types successfully include numerous genres, making space possible accommodating various experiences.

Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Think about these recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Which classification works between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.

The Representation Problem

Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually that have no home during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested Indie races.

• A renowned logic title got overlooked completely in 2014
• A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
• Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
• Only a few puzzle games barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications

Value of Brain-Teasers

These are often small games, however the design behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Well-known matching games stand as most engaged experiences globally maintaining this status for over a decade.

The famous puzzle experience rivals well-known building titles competing to become most purchased experience; it additionally competes for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.

The Solution and Justification

Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. You could fill a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent so many good games out.

And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home in important events. Puzzle game makers function at the challenging frontier of video game design, developing some of most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay generations.