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Whenever a major honors show approaches, there’s always an outcry for the addition fresh award types to acknowledge overlooked contributions and fill the hearts of fans dedicated to specific genres.

A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. So would strategy board titles, representing a dedicated supporter's campaign. But they will have to forgive me when I prioritize since similar to dedicated enthusiasts, there's a strong justification for why my demand remains most pressing and significant. Here's the proposal: We need a category for puzzle games.

Categorizing Game Types

Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and inevitably spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. This explains why cinema institutions steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise within the realm of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they barely qualify one unified medium.

For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to receive proper recognition, genre categories are essential.

Present Award Structure

Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these six categories effectively encompass many game types, allowing placement for most games within them.

Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Consider three of recent excellent titles, all very different: structural challenges of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition in a different title, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Which classification works among existing types? Simply put, no category fits.

Acknowledgment Issues

There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games published annually lacking appropriate categories at major award shows, if they accidentally match classification types such as Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the extremely competitive small studio competitions.

• A renowned logic title received no recognition in any category in 2014
• A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
• Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
• Only a few puzzle games barely qualified for independent or mobile categories

Importance of Logic Titles

Frequently they represent modest productions, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Famous handheld logic titles count as most engaged experiences worldwide and have been for over a decade.

The iconic tile-matching title rivals popular creative games for the title of best-selling game of all time; it additionally competes as greatest title ever. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.

Proposal and Rationale

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. It would be easy to populate five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.

To emphasize again, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Logic title developers are working at the demanding boundary interactive creation, producing among the purest expressions of gaming itself. Comparable to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.