What are your Top 100 board games?
We recently stumbled across a list of best board games at Ranker.com. This website provides a way for people to create lists and have others vote on the items on the list. Items will move up or down the list depending on the votes.
At the time we saw the list, there had been just over 7,000 people cast their votes. These were the top 76 board games of all time according to the voters.
How many have of these board games have you played?
- Chess
- Monopoly
- Scrabble
- Risk
- Settlers of Catan
- Clue
- Ticket to Ride
- Uno
- Battleship
- Apples to Apples
- Dominion
- Puerto Rico
- Yahtzee
- Trivial Pursuit
- Stratego
- Checkers
- Sorry!
- Agricola
- Carcassonne
- Pictionary
- Pandemic
- Connect Four
- Go
- Backgammon
- Arkham Horror
- Axis and Allies
- Power Grid
- The Game of Life
- Candyland
- A Game of Thrones
- Battlestar Galactica
- Cosmic Encounter
- Smallworld
- Twilight Struggle
- Trouble
- Tigris and Euphrates
- 7 Wonders
- Twilight Imperium
- Chinese Checkers
- Mastermind
- Cranium
- El Grande
- Don’t Break the Ice
- Scattergories
- Dixit
- Mahjong
- Say Anything
- Dominoes
- Dominant Species
- Cards Against Humanity
- Guess Who?
- Dungeon!
- Reversi / Othello
- Mancala
- The Invasion of Canada
- Taboo
- Diplomacy
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark
- Hi Ho! Cherry-O
- Wits and Wagers
- Caylus
- Key to the Kingdom
- Chutes and Ladders
- Blood Bowl
- Uno Attack
- Shogun
- Operation
- Through the Ages
- Pay Day
- Shadows Over Camelot
- Alhambra
- Balderdash
- Le Havre
- Acquire
- Scotland Yard
- Summoner Wars
We’ll admit that’s a pretty good list of board games. Having played 46 of them you can see that many get our vote as well. And there are still plenty on the list that are on our ‘want to play’ list.
However, another board game list that we’d highly suggest you check out for great board games and card games is the Top 100 Games listed on BoardGameGeek.com.
Rather than just 7,000 voters like the list above, the BoardGameGeek.com list is compiled from MILLIONS of gamers around the world ranking their favorite games. Just take for example the 2nd game on this list – Agricola. It alone has received over 30,000 votes!
- Twilight Struggle
- Agricola
- Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization
- Puerto Rico
- Android: Netrunner
- Eclipse
- Power Grid
- Le Havre
- Mage Knight: Board Game
- Terra Mystica
- Brass
- Caylus
- The Castles of Burgundy
- Dominion: Intrigue
- 7 Wonders
- Dominion
- Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar
- Dominant Species
- El Grande
- Race for the Galaxy
- Ora Et Labora
- Battlestar Galactica
- Tigris and Euphrates
- War of the Ring (2nd edition)
- A Game of Thrones: the Board Game
- War of the Ring
- Twilight Imperium
- Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game
- Paths of Glory
- Lords of Waterdeep
- Commands & Colors: Ancients
- Steam
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark
- Summoner Wars
- Mage Wars
- Crokinole
- Trajan
- Stone Age
- Goa
- Age of Steam
- The Princes of Florence
- Combat Commander: Europe
- Troyes
- Railways of the World
- Hannibal: Rome Vs. Carthage
- TICHU
- Pandemic
- Go
- Chaos in the Old World
- Runewars
- Here I Stand
- Sid Meier’s Civilization: the Board Game
- Imperial
- Age of Empires
- Earth Reborn
- Shogun
- Hansa Teutonica
- Die Macher
- Space Alert
- Blood Bowl: Living Rulebook
- Ticket to Ride: Europe
- Ra
- Galaxy Trucker
- Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries
- Village
- Navegador
- Imperial 2030
- Glory to Rome
- Claustrophobia
- Memoir ’44
- Small World
- The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
- The Resistance: Avalon
- YINSH
- 1960: The Making of the President
- Advanced Squad Leader
- Dungeon Lords
- Ticket to Ride
- The Resistance
- Arkham Horror
- 1830: Railways & Robber Barons
- Cosmic Encounter
- Space Hulk (third Edition)
- Endeavor
- Dixit
- Alien Frontiers
- Keyflower
- Mice and Mystics
- Antiquity
- Carcassonne
- Cyclades
- Samurai
- Dixit Odyssey
- Risk Legacy
- Few Acres of Snow
- Battlelore
- Merchants & Marauders
- Civilization
- Dune
- Die Siedler von Catan
From this list however, we’ve only played 22 games. Going off of this list, we still have plenty of great board games and card games yet to play!
Better get playing…
What would you put at the top of a Best Board Games list?
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If I look at the greatest games of all times as the games that have had the most influence, then I’d say the ranker.com is pretty close to accurate. However since they put in the description the words “most fun” I’d have to say the majority of those games don’t belong on there. And a lot of the ones remaining would be towards the bottom of my top 100. It did have a few of my top 10 though.
The board game geek list is a lot closer at least of the games I’ve played. Coincidentally I’ve also played 22 of the top 100 on BGG, but I know it’s not the same 22 you’ve played.
Since you asked about the tops of our lists. My top 10 favorite (for “most fun”): 1. Dominion 2. Cosmic Encounter 3. 7 Wonders 4. Ghost Stories 5. Thief of Baghdad 6. Mage Knight 7. Clans 8. Race for the Galaxy 9. Chaos in the Old World 10. Dungeon Lords
Beyond that it gets a little fuzzy to choose a top 100.
Aaron – I’d agree with you on the Ranker list about ‘most fun’. And I believe you’re right on which 22 of the top BGG games we’ve both played. Thanks for sharing your Top 10 games!
I dont agree with the not fun factor of rankers list. There is a significant difference between rankers and BGG’s list. You don’t see Uno, Cranium, Apples to Apples and the like on the BGG’s list. That’s simply because most board game aficionados prefer a more “sophisticated” type of game and that is usually who submits their vote on BGG. My Mom for example would not have fun playing Twighlight struggle – Rankers list is far more accurate when it comes to diversity. Oh, lets see my top 10
Heroclix, Game of thrones, cards against humanity, Magenight, Heroscape, DOminion, King of Tokyo, 7 Wonders, Descent Journeys in the dark, Settlers, pandemic, ticket to ride
Mark – You’re absolutely right about fun being subjective. There are plenty of games I think are a ton of fun, but just the thought of them makes her cringe – like Power Grid.
Great list Trent thank you for taking the time and putting it together, I’m going to check each and every one of them out.
And since everyone is making their top 10, here is mine:
1. Cards Against Humanity, Monopoly, Chess, King of Tokyo, Game of Thrones, Apples to Apples, Balderdash, Eldritch Horror, Ticket to Ride, Dominion.
Any chance of kids favorite board games?
We have a Kids games page with our favorite Kids games. Check in our Board Game Reviews tab and you’ll see a link to it.
Does any one have the game of RICH-HI-RICH?
its a very old board game which was about selecting different professions and had dollars as currency.
i have lost the board but still have the things to play.
the best game ever i have played.
My top games, which I am playing with my kids it Jenga, Hoot Owl Hoot and other.
I absolutely agree with the Article, chess tops the best board game list. At a young age I started off with Chess and checkers.Now I am 41 and feel I got rusty over passing of years and can not play great chess. I feel my thinking about the moves and the strategies is not the same as that of 10-15 years ago, so I make mistakes and loose.
Moreover, there is no such doubt that the checkers is the most fascinating and interesting games out there. However to also stay on the top of the game, you require to develop the right type of the strategies and it is mainly where playing the online checkers can assist you. Compared to chess, checkers is simple in nature, it relaxes the mind and hones the brain.
My list of top board games :
1. chess (Even though I cannot play as tough as I used to be, still I love it!)
2. checkers
3. Scrabble
4. Monopoly
5. Mahjong