Tetris Couldn't Win at The Game Awards — Another Award Type Could Fix That

Whenever a prominent awards ceremony nears, you'll find an outcry for the addition of new categories to acknowledge underappreciated efforts and satisfy the spirits of enthusiasts who have specialized interests.

Another commentator previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. Equally deserving are board games, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize because like all single-minded supporters, I have a cast-iron argument supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. The demand is this: There should be an award type for logic-based games.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it’s very subjective, and it will always start arguments and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of video games, showing incredible range it's challenging to consider them a single creative category.

For the full spectrum of interactive entertainment excellence to be recognized, while allowing diverse titles to receive proper recognition, specific award classifications remain vital.

Current Gaming Award Categories

Leading game ceremonies presently include classifications covering Action, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications successfully include many game types, allowing placement for most games within them.

Different situation exists for puzzle games. No appropriate category exists to put them. Think about these this year’s best games, all very different: the architectural riddles from a specific release, intense tile-matching in a different title, thought-provoking social scenarios in another game. What category would fit them within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.

Recognition Challenges

Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles published annually that have no home in entertainment awards, except when they manage to fit for categories like Handheld titles, VR/AR Game, or the intensely contested independent game categories.

  • One classic puzzle game got overlooked completely that year
  • A different innovative game received no nominations in 2019
  • A beloved organization game received no acknowledgment recently
  • Just some logic titles barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications

Significance of Puzzle Games

Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft behind logic titles carries substantial weight. Famous handheld logic titles rank among most popular titles worldwide maintaining this status for over a decade.

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

The Solution and Justification

Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. You could fill a field of five engaging, different, qualified experiences each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.

And to reiterate, these are games lacking appropriate categories at major gaming awards. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge of video game design, producing among essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Just like movie stunt professionals, they deserve recognition. Don't make them wait generations.

Michael Warner
Michael Warner

Elena is a life coach and writer passionate about empowering individuals through mindfulness and actionable self-improvement techniques.