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

Whenever a significant honors show approaches, there’s always a demand to include fresh award types to recognize overlooked contributions and satisfy the passions of enthusiasts dedicated to specific genres.

A fellow writer has already made for a horror game category. That would rule. The same goes for strategy board titles, which is someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case backing this proposal remains most pressing above others. This is the request: There should be an award type for logic-based games.

Categorizing Game Types

Categorizing art by genre defies precise measurement; it remains highly personal, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason cinema institutions avoid this approach. But it is a necessary evil in the world of gaming, that demonstrate such variety it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.

To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, 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, Action/Adventure, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications effectively encompass a lot of ground, and you can find room accommodating various experiences.

Different situation exists for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to put them. Think about these this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges from a specific release, intense tile-matching from another release, engaging interpersonal challenges of a third title. Where could they possibly go between these six categories? Nowhere, that’s where.

Recognition Challenges

Numerous examples exist outstanding logic titles released every year that have no home at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested small studio competitions.

  • One classic puzzle game wasn’t nominated completely during that awards season
  • A different innovative game was excluded during that ceremony
  • Well-received sorting experience got ignored recently
  • Only a few logic titles scraped into niche award types

Value of Brain-Teasers

Commonly they're compact experiences, yet the craft behind logic titles is of massive significance. Well-known matching games count as most engaged experiences worldwide and have been for an extended period.

The famous puzzle experience 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, and they are in conversation with almost every other genre.

The Solution and Justification

Brain-teasers wouldn't encounter such difficulty. One could readily select a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.

And to reiterate, these include experiences without proper classification in important events. Brain-teaser creators function at the demanding boundary interactive creation, creating some of most fundamental forms of the video game form. Just like cinema stunt performers, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait decades.

Abigail Williams
Abigail Williams

Elena Vance is a seasoned IT consultant with over 12 years of experience in cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure, passionate about helping SMEs leverage technology for growth.