Games of the Year
1977-Current (2012)
The following selections are based on a combination of opinions by our staff, customers, & aficionados. They can range from light family / social games, card games, serious euro games, and even a few electronic entries. There's even one PC game... horrors! These may not be the best games of each year, or what we might now select in retrospect, but all of them, made an impression. Too bad some of them are no longer available. Note that this list doesn't mean that a game was released in the year listed. Often we discovered a game years after it's original release date, and you may notice that our tastes changed over the years. Enjoy.
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| Year | Game of the Year | Runner-up | Special Note |
|
1977 |
Facts in Five | 221B Baker Street | Pigmania (Pass the Pigs) & Pente |
| 1978 | Junta | Discretion | Fortune 500 |
| 1979 | Hare & Tortoise | Cosmic Encounter | Wizards Quest |
| 1980 | Empire Builder | Ace of Aces | Civilization |
| 1981 | The Generals (Electronic) | Barricade (Ravensburger) | Dark Tower |
| 1982 | Slap Shot | Axis & Allies | Hoax |
| 1983 | M.U.L.E. (PC Game) | Illuminati | Scotland Yard |
| 1984 | Supremacy | Borderlands (Eon) | |
| 1985 | Wildlife Adventure | Under Cover | |
| 1986 | Consulting Detective | Pictionary | Out of Context |
| 1987 | Shogun (Milton Bradley) | Conquest of the Empire (MB) | |
| 1988 | Personal Preference | Cathedral | Set |
| 1989 | Modern Naval Battles | Midnight Party | Abalone |
| 1990 | Tribond | Pipeline | Malarky |
| 1991 | Outburst | True Colors | |
| 1992 | Terrace | Ice House | |
| 1993 | Magic the Gathering | ||
| 1994 | Freight Train | Talisman | |
| 1995 | Catch Phrase | Quarto | Dixie (Columbia) |
| 1996 | 25 Words or Less | Sharp Shooters (Milton Bradley) | Settlers of Catan |
| 1997 | Chronology | Once Upon a Time | El Grande |
| 1998 | Quoridor | Loaded Questions | Manhattan |
| 1999 | Apples to Apples | Lost Cities | Tigris & Euphrates |
| 2000 | Lord of the Rings (Knizia) | Carcassonne | Times Up |
| 2001 | San Marco | Web of Power | Carolus Magnus |
| 2002 | Princes of Florence | Wyatt Earp | Tikal |
| 2003 | Puerto Rico | Tichu | Blokus |
| 2004 | Ticket to Ride | Wordigo | Amun Re |
| 2005 | Memoire 44 | Shadows over Camelot | Betrayal House on the Hill |
| 2006 | Ingenious | Niagara | Cash & Guns |
| 2007 | Wits & Wagers | Zooloretto | Incan Gold |
| 2008 | Pandemic | Quirkle | Stone Age BananaGrams |
| 2009 | Dominion | Truth Be Told | Bisikle |
| 2010 | Tobago | Small World | Poo, The Card Game Word on the Street |
| 2011 Under Consideration so far. |
Hansa Teutonica |
Quarriors | Belfort,
7 Wonders Eminent Domain, Alien Frontiers Letters from Whitechapel |