Tetris Didn't Win at The Game Awards — A New Category Could Fix That

As any prominent awards ceremony draws close, you'll find a demand to include fresh award types to recognize unsung work and satisfy the spirits of fans with niche passions.

Another commentator previously argued advocating for terror-themed awards. That would rule. So would board games, this being someone's personal cause. But they will have to forgive me for pushing forward because like all dedicated enthusiasts, I possess a compelling case for why my demand stands as crucial above others. Here's the proposal: It's essential to create a category for puzzle games.

The Genre Classification Challenge

Organizing artistic expressions is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and it will always spark debates resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an essential concession in the world of interactive entertainment, which are so diverse they hardly constitute one unified medium.

For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.

Present Award Structure

Leading game ceremonies offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Fighting, Sim/Strategy, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these award types successfully include a lot of ground, allowing placement for most games within them.

This doesn't apply to puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to put them. Examine these examples from outstanding current releases, all very different: building puzzles in a particular game, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.

Acknowledgment Issues

There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games published annually without proper recognition at major award shows, except when they manage to fit classification types such as Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.

  • An iconic brain-teaser wasn’t nominated completely that year
  • Another creative title was excluded during that ceremony
  • A beloved organization game was overlooked that year
  • Limited numbers of puzzle games scraped into independent or mobile categories

Value of Brain-Teasers

Commonly they're small games, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as the most-played games globally and have been for an extended period.

The iconic tile-matching title challenges popular creative games claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it also contends for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones within interactive entertainment, and engaging with almost every other genre.

Proposal and Rationale

Logic titles wouldn't face such difficulty. You could fill five nominees engaging, different, qualified experiences every year with ease — actually, with challenge, given the need to exclude many worthy titles.

And to reiterate, these are games without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers are working at the challenging frontier of video game design, creating some of the purest expressions of the video game form. Similar to film action specialists, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay decades.

Eric Craig
Eric Craig

Luna van de Berg is a Dutch journalist specializing in mindful business practices and sustainable entrepreneurship.