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Friday, October 16, 2026
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Tetris Wouldn't Win at The Game Awards — A New Category Might Solve This

Whenever a prominent awards ceremony nears, you'll find a clamor for the addition fresh award types to acknowledge overlooked contributions and satisfy the hearts of fans dedicated to specific genres.

A fellow writer made the case for a horror game category. That would rule. Equally deserving are tabletop games, representing a passionate advocate's mission. However, I must insist if I try to elbow in front since similar to single-minded supporters, I possess a compelling case supporting my request stands as crucial and important of all. The demand is this: It's essential to create a classification for brain-teasing titles.

Organizing Gaming Categories

Organizing artistic expressions defies precise measurement; it’s very subjective, and inevitably spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. There’s a reason film award organizations steer clear of genre categories. Yet it remains an unavoidable compromise for the industry of gaming, which are so diverse it's challenging to consider them one unified medium.

For comprehensive acknowledgment of achievement in video games to gain proper attention, and for games of all stripes to have a chance for representation, specific award classifications remain vital.

Current Gaming Award Categories

Leading game ceremonies currently feature award types recognizing Action, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these classifications effectively encompass a lot of ground, allowing placement for most games within them.

This doesn't apply to logic-based experiences. No appropriate category exists for their placement. Consider three of this year’s best games, each quite distinct: building puzzles from a specific release, the pulse-pounding block-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles from additional release. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Nowhere, that’s where.

Acknowledgment Issues

There are dozens outstanding logic titles released every year lacking appropriate categories during gaming ceremonies, if they accidentally match for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, and the highly challenging Indie races.

  • A renowned logic title received no recognition completely that year
  • Another creative title missed out during that ceremony
  • Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment recently
  • Just some brain-teasers managed to sneak into independent or mobile categories

Importance of Logic Titles

Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games count as most popular titles in the world maintaining this status for an extended period.

The legendary block-stacking game challenges popular creative games claiming status as highest-selling title ever; it also contends for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational within interactive entertainment, and they are in conversation with diverse game types.

The Solution and Justification

Puzzle games wouldn’t have that issue. It would be easy to populate five nominees with fascinating, diverse, deserving games every year with ease — perhaps, with difficulty, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.

And to reiterate, these represent titles without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Logic title developers are working at the hard edge of video game design, producing among essential manifestations of gaming itself. Just like film action specialists, they warrant appreciation. We shouldn't delay decades.

Written by

Robin Allen

Eline de Vries is a seasoned journalist covering Dutch media and current affairs.

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