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Whenever a major prize-giving event nears, you'll find a clamor for the addition of new categories to honor overlooked contributions and fill the hearts of fans dedicated to specific genres.

A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. It would be amazing. The same goes for tabletop games, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front since similar to blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case for why my demand remains most pressing above others. This is the request: There should be a category for puzzle games.

The Genre Classification Challenge

Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why movie academies don’t do it. Yet it remains a necessary evil within the realm of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify one unified medium.

For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.

Current Gaming Award Categories

Leading game ceremonies presently include award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types actually cover a lot of ground, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.

Not so for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.

Recognition Challenges

Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles launched regularly that have no home at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.

• A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything in 2014
• Another creative title was excluded that year
• Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment in 2021
• Just some logic titles managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications

Value of Brain-Teasers

Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games rank among most engaged experiences in the world continuing this trend for many years.

The iconic tile-matching title challenges well-known building titles for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for top gaming experience. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.

Proposal and Rationale

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. You could fill multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles annually without trouble — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave numerous deserving experiences.

Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers operate at the challenging frontier of video game design, developing some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay decades.