🔗 Share this article

Each time a significant honors show nears, there’s always an outcry for introducing additional classifications to honor underappreciated efforts and fill the hearts of fans dedicated to specific genres.

A fellow writer made the case supporting a scary games classification. It would be amazing. So would strategy board titles, this being a passionate advocate's mission. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize because like all single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal is the most urgent above others. This is the request: We need a classification for brain-teasing titles.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it remains highly personal, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. There’s a reason film award organizations avoid this approach. But it is an unavoidable compromise for the industry of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.

For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to be recognized, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, classification by type becomes crucial.

Current Gaming Award Categories

The major gaming awards offer these award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories effectively encompass numerous genres, making space possible for numerous titles.

Not so for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere for their placement. Think about these recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: the architectural riddles in a particular game, intense tile-matching of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.

The Representation Problem

There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games released every year that have no home during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, and the highly challenging small studio competitions.

• An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked completely in 2014
• A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
• Well-received sorting experience was overlooked that year
• Only a few puzzle games managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications

Value of Brain-Teasers

Frequently they represent small games, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as the most-played games worldwide and have been for over a decade.

The iconic tile-matching title competes with popular creative games claiming status as most purchased experience; it’s also in the running as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, and engaging with almost every other genre.

The Solution and Justification

Logic titles wouldn't face this problem. You could fill multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.

And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators operate at the demanding boundary of video game design, producing among essential manifestations of gaming itself. Similar to movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.