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

Each time a significant awards ceremony nears, there’s always a demand for the addition of new categories to recognize underappreciated efforts and satisfy the passions of followers with niche passions.

A fellow writer has already made for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are strategy board titles, which is someone's personal cause. However, I must insist for pushing forward just as with other single-minded supporters, there's a strong justification for why my demand stands as crucial above others. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Classifying creative works isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and inevitably spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. However, it represents a necessary evil within the realm of gaming, showing incredible range they barely qualify one unified medium.

For the full spectrum of achievement in video games to be recognized, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, genre categories are essential.

Current Gaming Award Categories

Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications actually cover a lot of ground, and you can find room for numerous titles.

This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No suitable classification appears for their placement. Consider three of this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles of one title, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, thought-provoking social scenarios of a third title. What category would fit them within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.

Acknowledgment Issues

There are dozens excellent brain-teasers released every year without proper recognition during gaming ceremonies, except when they manage to fit award groups including Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested Indie races.

  • A renowned logic title wasn’t nominated for anything that year
  • Another creative title missed out in 2019
  • A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment that year
  • Limited numbers of logic titles managed to sneak into niche award types

Value of Brain-Teasers

These are often compact experiences, but the art of the puzzle game is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as the most-played games globally continuing this trend for many years.

The famous puzzle experience rivals famous sandbox experiences for the title of most purchased experience; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging with diverse game types.

Proposal and Rationale

Puzzle games wouldn’t have such difficulty. You could fill multiple candidates interesting, varied, worthy titles each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.

To emphasize again, these represent titles lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the demanding boundary game development, developing some of essential manifestations of gaming itself. Just like cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay decades.

Jacob Shaw
Jacob Shaw

Award-winning film critic and documentary filmmaker with over a decade of experience covering global cinema festivals.