BGG Hall of Fame 2025: Some Thoughts

BoardGameGeek, the best site for board games out there, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. All last week, they revealed inductees into their brand new Hall of Fame, highlighting the games that have made the biggest impact on the hobby. They released the names five at a time, but now that they’re all out, I have some thoughts. Let’s start with the 2025 class.

1. Diplomacy (1959) – This negotiation game of global politics has never interested me. It gets on because it’s simple rules-wise, and also because it was an early example of a game people could play remotely (by mail).
2. Acquire (1964) – Sid Sackson’s classic economic game basically invented the modern board game industry, even though its impact wasn’t felt for a while. This one had to be on the list.
3. Cosmic Encounter (1977) – Coming out the same year as the original Star Wars, Cosmic Encounter was a game of cosmic conflict that really perfect the use of variable player powers. I vigorously agree with this selection.
4. Civilization (1980) – I haven’t played it, but I know Francis Tresham’s classic had a massive effect on every civilization game that followed, both analog and digital. Definitely a worth addition to the Hall.
5. 1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons (1986) – Technically, this was the second 18xx game, but it’s another Francis Tresham design that had a huge effect on games that came afterwards. This seems like another good entry.
6. Magic: The Gathering (1993) – I don’t think you could have a board game HOF without this one. Not only was it massively successful (and still is), but it influenced countless other game designs. Which is wild, especially since Richard Garfield originally made it so he could get funding to make RoboRally.
7. CATAN (1995) – This is another obvious choice for the Hall. It’s the game that brought Euros to the states, and brought many many people into the hobby (including me). Though I have personally moved past it, I still respect its continuing impact on the industry.
8. El Grande (1996) – While not the first area control game, this has become the archetypal example for the genre. It’s a really good game that has stood the test of time.
9. Tigris & Euphrates (1997) – This is one of Reiner Knizia’s most beloved games, and one that always comes up in the conversation of best games of all time. Personally, I’m not a fan, nor am I fan of many Knizia games, but enough people love it that it probably does deserve a spot on the list.
10. Ra (1999) – Another Knizia title, and this is one I haven’t played. It’s an auction game set in Egypt designed by Reiner Knizia, which are all three things very low on my game attraction scale. And yet, I feel like I should play sometime to try to see what the hype is about.
11. Carcassonne (2000) – A classic introductory game that, like Catan, is responsible for bringing a lot of people into the hobby. It’s a fairly simple game that got a bit watered down with too many weird expansions (like The Catapult), but it’s a fun one I still recommend to new hobbyists.
12. Power Grid (2004) – Friedemann Friese’s classic game about connecting power to cities around the country. It’s got auctions, but I still always find myself enjoying this one, and approve of its inclusion.
13. Ticket to Ride (2004) – The third of the classic gateway games trilogy (including CATAN and Carcassonne), this train game has been a standard for over twenty years now. Maps keep coming out, and the game has proved incredibly resilient. Definitely worthy of the Hall.
14. Caylus (2005) – While not the first worker placement game, this is the one that brought it to the forefront of the conversation when talking about favorite mechanisms. For me, it’s good, though there are WP games I like more. Still, for its impact, it deserves to be here.
15. Twilight Struggle (2005) – This has always been marketed as a wargame for Eurogamers. It’s about the Cold War, with events reflecting what really went on. I’ve played once, and it’s very good and detailed. It spent some time as #1 at BGG as well.
16. Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization (2006) – Vlaada Chvátil’s only entry on the list is a sprawling civilization card game. It’s very detailed, got a lot of moving parts, and its second edition is in the top 15 games of all time at BGG.
17. Agricola (2007) – Uwe Rosenberg had been around as a game designer for years before Agricola, but this was the game that put him on the map. To me, it’s just an OK game, but a lot of people really get into it. It’s another one that spent some time at #1 at BGG.
18. Brass (2007) – Martin Wallace’s game about the growth of the cotton industry in Britain was successful when released, but really gained traction when Roxley released a new version (Brass: Lancashire) in 2018. Its sequel, Brass: Birmingham, is currently #1 at BGG.
19. Race for the Galaxy (2007) – Tom Lehmann’s sci-fi and card-based take on Puerto Rico makes the list. It’s a fantastic game, though most of the expansions have been a little lackluster. Still, the base system is great.
20. Dominion (2008) – As the game that introduced deck-building as an in-game mechanism, this is a definite Hall of Famer. Donald X. Vaccarino’s game made an immediate splash when released, and continues to churn out expansions to this day.
21. Pandemic (2008) – While not the first cooperative game, Matt Leacock’s Pandemic definitely sparked a cooperative revolution. Massively successful, Pandemic has launched a franchise, including another former BGG #1, Pandemic Legacy.
22. 7 Wonders (2010) – Like Dominion, Antoine Bauza’s 7 Wonders took a mechanism that already existed (card drafting), and centered an entire game around it. It was hugely successful, and continues to be so to this day.
23. The Castles of Burgundy (2011) – Stefan Feld’s dice game really captured people’s attention, and managed to make a big impact on the world of gaming.
24. Terra Mystica (2012) – A land development game where you’re trying to expand your empire without fighting. I’ve never played, but it’s been popular enough to spawn the highly respected sequels Gaia Project and Age of Innovation.
25. Concordia (2013) – Mac Gerdt’s Concordia is a deck-building game where you’re building routes around the Roman Empire. Another one I’ve never played.

So, that’s the list for now. Apparently, they’ll add more games to the list from year to year. There are a lot of good choices here, but I want to mention a few that were left off.

1. Die Macher (1986) – I’ve never played this game of German politics, and I think it’s currently out of print. But, it is game #1 in the BGG database, and a lot of people love it. Maybe another year.
2. Puerto Rico (2002) – This is the most egregious absence from the list. Yes, the theme is not ideal, but the game is absolutely phenomenal and influenced many games afterwards, including Race for the Galaxy (which did make the list). I’d say it’s more influential than some games that made the list, like Concordia. PR should have been a first-balloter.
3. Arkham Horror (2005) – It’s been noted that this list was very Eurocentric, without much representation from wargames or the so-called Ameritrash. Arkham Horror is a highly thematic, Cthulhu-based game that was one of the games to put Fantasy Flight on the map.
4. Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition (2005) – Fantasy Flight came into being because of the first edition of this game, but the third edition is really what put it over the top. Yes, it’s a long experience, but its fans think it’s very worth it.
5. King of Tokyo (2011) – Richard Garfield’s kaiju game is notable because it’s a game where everyone picks on everyone else, but it’s not mean. It was specifically designed to prevent people from ganging up on one person, and I think it’s worthy of consideration for that.
6. Risk Legacy (2011) – Mass market games didn’t really get any consideration for this list, and there is a case to be made for stuff like Monopoly, Clue, or Scrabble. Risk too could be considered, but Rob Daviau’s Risk Legacy should be at the top of the consideration list for introducing the legacy format. At the end of the day, it’s still Risk, but the permanent changes to the game materials was revolutionary.
7. Love Letter (2012) – Seiji Kanai’s 18-card game should be considered for the Hall because of its impact on making people realize the value of small games. Plus, it’s really fun.
8. X-Wing (2012) – When Fantasy Flight got the Star Wars license, this was their first game to come out. It was novel because it brought a lot of people to miniature games.
9. Codenames (2015) – There’s a ten-year rule for the BGG HOF, in that games have to have been out for at least ten years to be considered. Codenames just squeaks in, and as a game that really revolutionized what a party game could be, I’d consider it.

These may be in contention for future Hall of Fame votes. However, with the ten-year rule, let’s speculate about who might be a first-ballot contender for 2026. So, games that came out in 2016. I think that really only two have a shot – Terraforming Mars and Scythe. You could also make a case for games like Great Western Trail, Arkham Horror: The Card Game, and Clank!, but I think if any 2016 games are first-balloters, it would be one of those two.

Anyway, it was fun to go through these, and I’ll be keeping my eye on the BGG Hall of Fame in the future. Thanks for reading!

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