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Tetris Wouldn't Succeed at The Game Awards — Another Award Type Might Solve This

Each time a significant prize-giving event nears, one notices a demand to include of new categories to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and satisfy the hearts of fans dedicated to specific genres.

Another commentator previously argued supporting a scary games classification. That would rule. Equally deserving are board games, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification for why my demand stands as crucial and significant. The demand is this: We need a category for puzzle games.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Categorizing art by genre is not a science; it’s very subjective, and inevitably generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. There’s a reason movie academies steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an essential concession for the industry of gaming, that demonstrate such variety they hardly constitute a single creative category.

For the full spectrum of gaming accomplishments to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.

Current Gaming Award Categories

Prominent interactive entertainment events offer these award types recognizing Action-oriented games, Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Collectively, these six categories effectively encompass numerous genres, and you can find room for numerous titles.

This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to accommodate them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.

Acknowledgment Issues

Many instances occur excellent brain-teasers launched regularly without proper recognition in entertainment awards, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.

  • One classic puzzle game received no recognition in any category that year
  • Another creative title received no nominations that year
  • Popular arranging title received no acknowledgment that year
  • Limited numbers of brain-teasers managed to sneak into small studio or handheld classifications

Significance of Puzzle Games

Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft in brain-teasers is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most popular titles in the world continuing this trend for many years.

The iconic tile-matching title challenges well-known building titles competing to become best-selling game of all time; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational to the art of video games, while interacting with almost every other genre.

Recommendation and Reasoning

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter this problem. One could readily select a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — or rather, with difficulty, since numerous excellent numerous deserving experiences.

And to reiterate, these include experiences that otherwise have no home at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers are working at the challenging frontier of video game design, creating some of the purest expressions within interactive entertainment. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. Let’s not keep them waiting decades.

JA
The writer

Jordan Abbott

Professional poker player and strategist with over a decade of experience in high-stakes tournaments.

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