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Each time a prominent awards ceremony draws close, one notices a demand for introducing additional classifications to recognize underappreciated efforts and delight the passions of followers who have specialized interests.

My colleague made the case for a horror game category. That would rule. The same goes for strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward because like all blinkered fanatics, there's a strong justification backing this proposal remains most pressing above others. This is the request: It's essential to create a classification for brain-teasing titles.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Categorizing art by genre isn't exact; it remains highly personal, and it will always generate discussions resulting in unclear classifications. This explains why film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. However, it represents an essential concession in the world of gaming, showing incredible range they hardly constitute as a single art form.

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.

Existing Game Classification System

Prominent interactive entertainment events presently include award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, Role-Playing, Combat games, Sim/Strategy, and Sports/Racing games. Together, these classifications effectively encompass a lot of ground, allowing placement for numerous titles.

Not so for logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists to put them. Examine these examples from recent excellent titles, showing diverse approaches: structural challenges in a particular game, intense tile-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles of a third title. Which classification works within current classifications? Simply put, no category fits.

Recognition Challenges

Numerous examples exist excellent brain-teasers published annually that have no home at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify award groups including Mobile Game, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.

• An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked in any category that year
• Another creative title received no nominations that year
• Well-received sorting experience was overlooked that year
• Only a few brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications

Importance of Logic Titles

Commonly they're compact experiences, but the art behind logic titles is of massive significance. Iconic mobile puzzle games count as most popular titles worldwide and have been for an extended period.

The iconic tile-matching title rivals famous sandbox experiences competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends for top gaming experience. Logic titles represent cornerstones for gaming as medium, and engaging across multiple categories.

The Solution and Justification

Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. One could readily select a field of five with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave so many good games out.

To emphasize again, these represent titles without proper classification in important events. Logic title developers operate at the challenging frontier of video game design, developing some of essential manifestations within interactive entertainment. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they warrant appreciation. Let’s not keep them waiting 35 years.