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Tetris Didn't Win at This Gaming Ceremony — A New Category May Address This Issue

Whenever a major prize-giving event draws close, there’s always a clamor for the addition fresh award types to honor underappreciated efforts and delight the passions of followers who have specialized interests.

Another commentator has already made advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. Equally deserving are board games, this being a passionate advocate's mission. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification backing this proposal is the most urgent and significant. Here's the proposal: We need an award type for logic-based games.

Categorizing Game Types

Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that movie academies don’t do it. However, it represents an essential concession within the realm of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute a single creative category.

For comprehensive acknowledgment of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, genre categories are essential.

Existing Game Classification System

Prominent interactive entertainment events currently feature genre categories for Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types actually cover many game types, allowing placement for most games within them.

Different situation exists for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Consider three of recent excellent titles, all very different: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.

Acknowledgment Issues

Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.

  • A renowned logic title got overlooked for anything during that awards season
  • A different innovative game was excluded during that ceremony
  • Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment in 2021
  • Just some logic titles barely qualified for independent or mobile categories

Significance of Puzzle Games

Commonly they're modest productions, but the art in brain-teasers carries substantial weight. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games worldwide and have been for an extended period.

The famous puzzle experience rivals popular creative games competing to become most purchased experience; it additionally competes for best game of all time. Brain-teasers form essential building blocks within interactive entertainment, and engaging with almost every other genre.

The Solution and Justification

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter that issue. You could fill a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.

Restating the point, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers operate at the hard edge game development, creating some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Comparable to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay decades.

About the author

Jonathon Conner

A digital strategist with over a decade of experience in IT consulting, specializing in cloud solutions and agile methodologies to drive innovation.

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