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As any prominent prize-giving event nears, there’s always a demand for the addition fresh award types to recognize underappreciated efforts and fill the passions of enthusiasts with niche passions.

My colleague made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. So would tabletop games, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I have a cast-iron argument backing this proposal stands as crucial and important of all. The demand is this: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.

Categorizing Game Types

Classifying creative works defies precise measurement; opinions vary greatly, and it will always generate discussions and end in fuzzy definitions. This explains why movie academies don’t do it. Yet it remains a necessary evil in the world of gaming, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them as a single art form.

To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.

Current Gaming Award Categories

Leading game ceremonies currently feature award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Collectively, these award types successfully include numerous genres, allowing placement accommodating various experiences.

This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No suitable classification appears to put them. Consider three of this year’s best games, all very different: building puzzles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges in another game. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Unfortunately, nowhere.

Acknowledgment Issues

There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.

• An iconic brain-teaser received no recognition for anything that year
• Another imaginative release received no nominations that year
• Well-received sorting experience got ignored that year
• Just some puzzle games scraped into independent or mobile categories

Value of Brain-Teasers

Commonly they're modest productions, but the art behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games count as most engaged experiences in the world maintaining this status for an extended period.

The famous puzzle experience competes with famous sandbox experiences for the title of best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.

Proposal and Rationale

Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. It would be easy to populate a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, given the need to exclude numerous deserving experiences.

To emphasize again, these include experiences lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge game development, creating some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Just like film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait generations.