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Each time a prominent honors show nears, there’s always a clamor for introducing fresh award types to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of fans with niche passions.

My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. Equally deserving are board games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize since similar to blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification backing this proposal remains most pressing and important of all. This is the request: There should be a classification for brain-teasing titles.

The Genre Classification Challenge

Classifying creative works isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why cinema institutions don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil in the world of gaming, showing incredible range they barely qualify as a single art form.

For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.

Current Gaming Award Categories

The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these six categories successfully include numerous genres, allowing placement for most games within them.

This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, all very different: building puzzles from a specific release, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.

Acknowledgment Issues

Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers published annually lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.

• An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition in any category that year
• Another creative title missed out during that ceremony
• Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
• Limited numbers of puzzle games managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories

Value of Brain-Teasers

Commonly they're modest productions, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games stand as the most-played games worldwide maintaining this status for many years.

The legendary block-stacking game competes with well-known building titles competing to become most purchased experience; it also contends for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, while interacting with diverse game types.

The Solution and Justification

Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. One could readily select multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.

To emphasize again, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories in important events. Logic title developers operate at the challenging frontier of video game design, producing among most fundamental forms of gaming itself. Comparable to film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay 35 years.