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Whenever a prominent awards ceremony approaches, one notices a clamor to include of new categories to recognize overlooked contributions and fill the passions of enthusiasts with niche passions.

A fellow writer previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. So would tabletop games, this being someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward since similar to single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal is the most urgent above others. Here's the proposal: There should be an award type for logic-based games.

The Genre Classification Challenge

Classifying creative works isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and inevitably spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why cinema institutions avoid this approach. Yet it remains an essential concession within the realm of video games, showing incredible range they hardly constitute one unified medium.

To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.

Existing Game Classification System

The major gaming awards offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Together, these six categories successfully include a lot of ground, allowing placement for most games within them.

Different situation exists for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Consider three of this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.

The Representation Problem

There are dozens excellent brain-teasers published annually lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.

• An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition in any category that year
• Another creative title received no nominations during that ceremony
• Popular arranging title was overlooked that year
• Limited numbers of puzzle games scraped into independent or mobile categories

Value of Brain-Teasers

Commonly they're compact experiences, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games rank among the most-played games in the world continuing this trend for many years.

The iconic tile-matching title competes with famous sandbox experiences claiming status as most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.

Recommendation and Reasoning

Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. It would be easy to populate a field of five interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent many worthy titles.

Restating the point, these are games lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers function at the hard edge of video game design, creating some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.