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Whenever a prominent awards ceremony approaches, you'll find a clamor for the addition of new categories to acknowledge unsung work and fill the spirits of followers dedicated to specific genres.

Another commentator has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would board games, this being a dedicated supporter's campaign. However, I must insist when I prioritize just as with other blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. This is the request: We need a category for puzzle games.

The Genre Classification Challenge

Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and typically start arguments resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. But it is a necessary evil within the realm of video games, showing incredible range they barely qualify as a single art form.

To recognize the complete range of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.

Existing Game Classification System

Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications effectively encompass many game types, making space possible for numerous titles.

Not so for puzzle games. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Think about these outstanding current releases, all very different: building puzzles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.

The Representation Problem

Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers launched regularly without proper recognition in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit for categories like Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.

• One classic puzzle game received no recognition in any category in 2014
• Another imaginative release was excluded that year
• A beloved organization game was overlooked in 2021
• Just some brain-teasers barely qualified for independent or mobile categories

Value of Brain-Teasers

Commonly they're small games, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles stand as most engaged experiences in the world maintaining this status for over a decade.

The iconic tile-matching title competes with well-known building titles for the title of most purchased experience; it also contends for top gaming experience. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks to the art of video games, while interacting across multiple categories.

The Solution and Justification

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. One could readily select a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.

Restating the point, these include experiences without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators are working at the challenging frontier game development, developing some of essential manifestations of the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.