The best board games of all time
The top 3 according to 219 votes from people: Dune: Imperium · Ark Nova · Brass: Birmingham. (Updated Feb 22, 2026.)
The highest-ranked games in BoardGameGeek's overall ranking, built from hundreds of thousands of player ratings. Expansions aren't ranked there, so they're not here either.
Top 25
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1
Dune: Imperium
Paul Dennen's 2020 mix of deck-building and worker placement in Frank Herbert's universe.
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2
Ark Nova
Mathias Wigge's 2021 game about building a modern zoo and funding conservation projects.
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3
Brass: Birmingham
Martin Wallace's economic game (2018) about canals, railways and industry in the Industrial Revolution; BGG's number one.
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4
Gloomhaven
Isaac Childres' 2017 dungeon-crawling campaign in a box weighing almost 10 kg.
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5
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Rob Daviau and Matt Leacock's 2015 co-op campaign where the board changes permanently game by game.
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6
Dune: Imperium – Uprising
The 2023 standalone follow-up to Dune: Imperium, adding spies, sandworms and six-player teams.
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7
Slay the Spire: The Board Game
The cooperative board-game adaptation of the deck-building video game.
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8
Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition
The 2017 edition of the epic space-empire game; a full game can last a whole day.
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9
The Castles of Burgundy
Stefan Feld's 2011 dice-driven game about developing an estate in medieval France.
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10
Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
The 2020 edition of the space 4X game of exploration, expansion, exploitation and extermination.
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11
War of the Ring: Second Edition
A two-player game covering the whole War of the Ring from The Lord of the Rings.
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12
Gaia Project
The 2017 science-fiction reimagining of Terra Mystica, with factions colonizing planets.
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13
Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
Vlaada Chvátil's card-driven civilization game, revised in 2015.
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14
Terraforming Mars
Jacob Fryxelius' 2016 game about corporations making Mars habitable.
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15
Spirit Island
R. Eric Reuss' 2017 co-op game where island spirits drive off colonizers.
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16
SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Tomáš Holek's 2024 game about scanning the sky and launching probes in search of alien life.
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17
Lost Ruins of Arnak
The 2020 mix of deck-building and worker placement exploring an uncharted island.
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18
Star Wars: Rebellion
Corey Konieczka's 2016 asymmetric game: the Empire hunts for the hidden Rebel base.
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19
Frosthaven
The 2022 standalone sequel to Gloomhaven, set in a frozen northern outpost.
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20
Brass: Lancashire
The 2018 revised edition of Martin Wallace's original Brass, set in Lancashire's cotton industry.
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21
Concordia
Mac Gerdts' 2013 trading game across the Roman Empire.
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22
Scythe
Jamey Stegmaier's 2016 game set in an alternate 1920s Europe with giant mechs.
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23
The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth
The 2024 two-player game based on the 7 Wonders Duel system, set in Middle-earth.
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24
Twilight Struggle
The 2005 two-player Cold War game between the USA and the USSR.
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25
Great Western Trail
Alexander Pfister's 2016 game about driving cattle to Kansas City.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 25… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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26
7 Wonders Duel
Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala's 2015 two-player version of 7 Wonders.
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27
Agricola
Uwe Rosenberg's worker-placement farming game from 2007, a modern classic.
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28
Azul
Michael Kiesling's tile-drafting game inspired by Portuguese azulejos, Spiel des Jahres 2018.
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29
Catan
Klaus Teuber's 1995 trading and building game, one of the best-selling modern board games.
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30
Nemesis
Adam Kwapiński's 2018 semi-cooperative survival game on a spaceship full of aliens.
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31
Wingspan
Elizabeth Hargrave's 2019 engine-building game about attracting birds, winner of the Kennerspiel des Jahres.
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32
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
The 2020 smaller, beginner-friendly standalone version of Gloomhaven.
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33
A Feast for Odin
Uwe Rosenberg's 2016 Viking-themed game of worker placement and tile-laying.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (6)
Brass: Birmingham at #1, great choice.
Twilight Imperium is amazing if you have 8 hours and 6 friends 😅
Great list but very heavy. Add some lighter ones like Azul or Agricola for families.
Brass: Birmingham at #1 is fair, it's been top of BGG for a while now.
No Catan? I know it's not 'gamer' enough but it's how most of us got into the hobby.
Wingspan should be here, gateway game that everyone loves.