It's that time of year again, a time when Defunct Games celebrates the holidays by posting a daily theme article that should inform and delight gamers all over the world. This year we're counting down the days until Christmas by looking at 30 different video game genres. From the most popular games to the tiniest niche titles, everything fits into a genre and we're going to be there to shed absolutely no new information about that genre in this month-long feature. Join us as we celebrate this joyous season with the 30 Genres of Christmas!


How Do You Know You Are Playing a Puzzle Game? Do you see falling blocks? Are you trying to match colors? Does your game feature lemmings or any other types of animals that seem to have a mind of their own? Are you going for a high score? It sounds like you may be playing some sort of Puzzle Game. No matter if it's a Tetris clone or something far more complicated, Puzzle Games are the perfect time waster. And best of all, you may even be able to talk your mom into enjoying this genre.

Patron Saint: Crossword puzzles and the application to become a member of Mensa.

Typical Story: LOOK OUT BELOW!! Some crazy person has let forth a torrent of blocks in all shapes, sizes and colors. It's your job to go through and arrange these boxes in a line so that they will disappear. However, if you don't do this fast enough you will smash into the unfortunately placed ceiling in the sky. Get to stacking, boxy boy!

What My Dad Says: "See, that's where you lose me. Yes, I love playing poker online. But that's because poker is a real man's game. It's the kind of thing cowboys and gladiators played right before killing something. It's a real game of skill. And even though I play it on my computer, that doesn't make it a video game. This is a card game, a game about solving puzzles. There's no such thing as a puzzle game. Maybe if this was your beloved Rock Hero you might have a point, but online poker is not a video game."

Not a Puzzle Game: Just because a game is puzzling, that does not make it a Puzzler. Take Tony Hawk Ride as a good example of this. Here is an overpriced game that comes with an accessory that barely works, it baffles me how this game made it to store shelves. But no matter how puzzled I am by the whole ordeal, it's definitely not a Puzzle Game. Likewise, the Virtual Console is not a Puzzle Game. Actually, it's a system and it had Puzzle Games, but the fact that it was puzzling ($180 for THAT?!?) does not make it a Puzzler. Puzzled? I thought so.

Then vs. Now? You just can't do any better than the classic puzzle games, especially when you try and compare anything to the original Tetris. It's not for a lack of trying, that's for sure. Every year there are countless companies spending their time making puzzle games. Some companies get awfully close, such as Q? Entertainment's Lumines and Sega's Crush. However, no matter how good those games are, they just don't compare to the original Tetris, Puyo Puyo and Lemmings. I say that classic puzzlers are the best, but then again this is coming from a completely irrational place that I will never be able to fully defend.