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As any major honors show approaches, one notices a demand to include fresh award types to recognize overlooked contributions and satisfy the spirits of followers dedicated to specific genres.

Another commentator made the case for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. So would board games, which is a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance if I try to elbow in front since similar to single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification supporting my request remains most pressing above others. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that film award organizations avoid this approach. However, it represents a necessary evil for the industry of interactive entertainment, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute one unified medium.

For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to receive proper recognition, classification by type becomes crucial.

Present Award Structure

Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these award types successfully include many game types, and you can find room for numerous titles.

Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, all very different: structural challenges of one title, intense tile-matching in a different title, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.

Acknowledgment Issues

Numerous examples exist of brilliant puzzle games released every year without proper recognition in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging independent game categories.

• An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated in any category during that awards season
• A different innovative game missed out that year
• A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment recently
• Only a few logic titles barely qualified for niche award types

Value of Brain-Teasers

Frequently they represent modest productions, yet the craft behind logic titles is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as most popular titles worldwide maintaining this status for many years.

The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games for the title of highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and engaging with diverse game types.

Proposal and Rationale

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. It would be easy to populate multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles every year with ease — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.

To emphasize again, these are games lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers function at the hard edge game development, developing some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait decades.