The Iconic Puzzle Game Wouldn't Win at The Game Awards — An Additional Classification May Address This Issue

As any major awards ceremony draws close, one notices a clamor for introducing of new categories to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of followers dedicated to specific genres.

A fellow writer has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would tabletop games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification supporting my request stands as crucial and significant. Here's the proposal: We need an award type for logic-based games.

The Genre Classification Challenge

Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and it will always generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why movie academies avoid this approach. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of video games, which are so diverse they hardly constitute as a single art form.

To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.

Present Award Structure

Leading game ceremonies offer these classifications covering Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories actually cover a lot of ground, allowing placement for numerous titles.

Different situation exists for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Think about these this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios from additional release. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Nowhere, that’s where.

The Representation Problem

Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles released every year without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.

  • An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked completely during that awards season
  • Another creative title was excluded that year
  • Well-received sorting experience got ignored that year
  • Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications

Value of Brain-Teasers

Frequently they represent compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among the most-played games worldwide continuing this trend for an extended period.

The famous puzzle experience rivals famous sandbox experiences for the title of highest-selling title ever; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and engaging with almost every other genre.

The Solution and Justification

Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.

And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators are working at the hard edge game development, creating some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Just like movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait decades.

Angela Garcia
Angela Garcia

A travel writer and urban explorer passionate about uncovering hidden gems in cities around the globe.