“Top 100 Board Games” Lists Aren’t What They Look Like — Here’s How to Read One

There Isn’t One Official “Top 100”

What you’ll actually find when you search that phrase are several different ranking systems, built on completely different logic, lumped together under the same headline. BoardGameGeek (BGG) runs a live, statistically-weighted crowd ranking that recalculates constantly. Spiel des Jahres and its sister awards are annual, juried picks made by a small panel of critics. The Origins Award is an industry vote handed out once a year at a convention. None of these three is “the” top 100 — they’re three different answers to the question “what’s good.”

How These Rankings Are Actually Built

BGG’s ranked list uses a Bayesian average rather than a raw average of user scores, pulling a game’s rating toward the site-wide average until it accumulates enough ratings of its own — stopping a brand-new game with a handful of five-star reviews from jumping straight to the top. BGG also requires a minimum number of ratings before a game is even eligible to appear on the ranked list, filtering out obscure titles regardless of score.

Spiel des Jahres (“Game of the Year”) was established in Germany in 1978, with the first award going in 1979 to Hase und Igel (Hare and Tortoise), designed by David Parlett. The winner is chosen by a jury of independent German game critics, not a public vote, and winning has historically been linked to major sales boosts in the German market. Because the main prize targets family-friendly, easy-to-teach games, two more focused awards followed: Kennerspiel des Jahres (2011) for heavier “gamers’ games,” and Kinderspiel des Jahres (2001) for children’s games.

The Origins Award, established in 1975, is chosen by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design across categories including board games, card games, and miniatures games, announced annually at the Origins Game Fair — an industry-and-hobbyist vote rather than a jury or statistical average.

Names You’ll Keep Seeing Across These Rankings

• Heavy strategy and “euro” games at the top of BGG — titles like Brass: Birmingham, Ark Nova, Gloomhaven, and Twilight Imperium: long, rules-dense games for players who already know the hobby.
• The original Spiel des Jahres winner — Hase und Igel (1979) set the template the award still rewards: short playtime, simple rules, broad appeal.
• Kennerspiel des Jahres picks — more strategic depth than a family game, but still teachable in one sitting.
• Kinderspiel des Jahres picks — chosen specifically for younger players, a category most generic “top 100” lists barely touch.
• Origins Award winners — judged across board, card, and miniatures games separately, so a list pulling in Origins winners may quietly include games that aren’t board games at all.

How to Choose the Right Games From Any Top 100 List

• Match the ranking type to your goal — for non-gamers at a holiday gathering, look toward Spiel des Jahres or Kinderspiel des Jahres, not BGG’s top 10.
• Check the rating count, not just the score — a game ranked in the low hundreds with many ratings is a safer bet than an obscure title just above the eligibility cutoff.
• Notice whether you’re looking at a base game or a reimplementation — it’s easy to click into an expansion by mistake.
• Weigh the award’s audience — Kennerspiel winners suit players who already enjoy games but don’t want a marathon; Spiel des Jahres winners suit people who barely play games at all.
• Treat convention and jury awards as a different signal than crowd rankings — an Origins winner can point to strong niche titles that never accumulate enough ratings to crack BGG’s list.

FAQ

Does winning Spiel des Jahres mean a game will also rank high on BGG?
Not necessarily. Spiel des Jahres targets accessible, family-friendly games, while BGG’s ranking rewards longer, more complex games rated highly by dedicated hobbyists. A game can win the jury prize and sit far outside BGG’s top tier, and vice versa.

Why do BGG’s rankings shift over time even for older games?
Because it’s a live Bayesian average, a game’s position keeps recalculating as new ratings come in — it can climb for years after release, or drift down as it stops attracting new ratings.

Given BGG’s catalog has over 100,000 entries, how small is the “top 100” really?
Extremely small. Ranked eligibility already requires clearing a minimum number of ratings, so the vast majority of that catalog never even qualifies to be ranked.

Are card games and miniatures games sometimes mixed into “board game” top 100 lists?
Yes. The Origins Award covers board, card, and miniatures games as separate categories — a list pulling in Origins winners without noting the category can include games that aren’t board games at all.