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As any prominent prize-giving event draws close, there’s always a clamor for introducing fresh award types to recognize overlooked contributions and fill the spirits of enthusiasts with niche passions.

A fellow writer has already made for a horror game category. That would rule. So would tabletop games, representing someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me if I try to elbow in front because like all dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification backing this proposal remains most pressing above others. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.

Categorizing Game Types

Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and typically spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that movie academies steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise within the realm of video games, which are so diverse they barely qualify one unified medium.

For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.

Current Gaming Award Categories

Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories successfully include many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.

Different situation exists for brain-teasing titles. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, each quite distinct: building puzzles of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.

Acknowledgment Issues

Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.

• One classic puzzle game received no recognition for anything that year
• A different innovative game was excluded in 2019
• Well-received sorting experience got ignored in 2021
• Only a few brain-teasers scraped into independent or mobile categories

Value of Brain-Teasers

Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most engaged experiences worldwide and have been for an extended period.

The legendary block-stacking game competes with famous sandbox experiences claiming status as best-selling game of all time; it also contends for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.

Proposal and Rationale

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. One could readily select multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.

To emphasize again, these are games without proper classification at major gaming awards. Brain-teaser creators are working at the demanding boundary interactive creation, producing among essential manifestations of the video game form. Just like cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. We shouldn't delay 35 years.