Most popular board games

I've seen on Youtube a number of experienced game players putting up lists of their favourite games. Some of the games I have and some I have interest in but do not yet own.

Here are a few people's top ten lists:

Foster The Meeple: HIS - Root, Scythe, Res Arcana, Vast: Crystal Caverns, Gaia Project, Dune Imperium, Brass Birmingham, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Star Wars Imperial Assault, Mansions of Madness. HERS - Villainous, Overboss, Mansions of Madness, Vast: Crystal Caverns, Fort, Cubitos, Fantasy Realms, Wingspan, Isle of Cats, Castles of Burgundy.

Watch It Played: Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea, Watergate, Exit: Advent Calendar, Call To Adventure, Endless Winter, Maquis, Weather Machine, Spires End: Hildegard, My Lil' Everdell, and Wayfarers of the South Tigris.

Before You Play: Arboretum, The Game, The Castles of Burgundy, Yokai Septet, Alchemists, Schotten Totten, Spirit Island, A Feast of Odin, Scythe, and Kanban. And Lisboa as an honorable mention.

Before You Play (this is actually their "10 games [each] they'd never get rid of"):A Feast of Odin, Cafe, Obsession, Goa, Bruges, Parade, The Castles of Burgundy, Witness, Brass Lancashire, Scythe, Panamax, Yokai Septet, Kanban, The Downfall of Pompeii, Gingkopolis, Alchemists, CuBirds, Jack's Friends, Johari, Two Rooms and a Boom, and Adel Verplicht.

Chits&Chats: Marco Polo, Spacers, Wingspan, Root, Pandemic Legacy, Praga Caput Regni, Concordia, Hallertau, Spacers, It's a Wonderful World, The Search for Planet X, NMBR9, Azul, Tiny Towns, Macao, Scythe, and Castles of Burgundy.

Boxed Meeples: Lost Ruins of Arnak, Scythe, Pandemic, Star Wars Rebellion, Everdell, Dwellings of Eldervale, Gloomhaven, Jaws of the Lion, Yggdrasil Chronicles, Viticulture, Red Rising, Starcadia Quest, Iki, Tapestry, Teotihuacan: City of Gods, Yedo.

Trey Parker's top 10:  Summit, Sub Terra, Star Wars Rebellion, War of the Ring, Alchemists, Auztralia, Robinson Crusoe, Fury of Dracula, Abomination, Merchants & Marauders, Western Legends.

TerreDice (top 10 for couples, part 1): Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Gloomhaven, Everdell, Disney Villainous, Hive Pocket, 7 Wonders Duel, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, Tiny Epic Galaxies, Carcasonne, Splendor, Codenames Duet.

TerreDice (top 10 for couples, part 2): Spirit Island, Arkham Horror, Viticulture, Wingspan, Hogwarts Battle, Creator's Corner, Imhotep, Onitama, Patchwork, Lost Cities, Jaipur.

Mr & Mrs Boardgame (top 10 for couples): Star Realms, Raptor, Codenames Duet, Blokus Duel, Arkham Horror, 7 Wonders Duel, 5-Minute Dungeon, Azul, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, and Jaipur.

Here are a few video reviews of highly rated solo games: Totally Tabled (1), Totally Tabled (2), Sir Thecos, Man vs Meeple, Legendary Tactics, and No Rolls Barred. (Note: not all of the games reviewed in these videos are solo-only, some are multi-player games that can also be played solo.)

From a survey of the reviews above, here are the ones that are repeatedly mentioned: Robinson Crusoe, Friday, It’s a Wonderful World, Under Falling Skies, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Cartographers, the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective series, Solomon Kane, Detective: City of Angels, Overboss, On the Rocks, A Feast for Odin, Wingspan, BULLET🤍, Coffee Roaster, Imperium Classic, Cascadia, Terraforming Mars, Star Wars Imperial Assault, Micro Macro Crime City Full House, Viticulture, Ark Nova, Black Sonata, The Captain is Dead.

Of the games reviewed above (and below), the ones I’m interested in that I don’t already own are: In Vino Morte, A Feast for Odin, Goa, Bruges, Cafe, Viticulture, Dixit, Dead Reckoning, Catan: Starfarers, Foundations of Rome, and Witness. I'm also interested in a few games that I've found - Silver Bullet, Hnefatafl, and a Risk variant called Risk: Europe. A few that I have some interest in are Sleeping Gods, 1862: Railway Mania in the Eastern Counties, Village Rails, Furnace, Endless Winter, Fury of Dracula, Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, Keyflower, Hadrian's Wall, and Twilight Struggle. Also looking at a few of the Oink Games mini games.

Dicetower is one of the most viewed game review sites on Youtube. Their video of the top 100 games of all time can be found here.

For an historical perspective, this site lists the 10 most popular games of all time (rated lowest to highest): Risk, Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, Othello, Clue, Monopoly, Scrabble, Backgammon, Checkers, and Chess. Of course, for popularity, chess has an advantage considering that it has been around for over 1,000 years!

Update: 2022 Reviews

From Foster the Mepple's list of their favorites of 2022 (with BGG rating in brackets): Ahoy (7.6), Applejack (7.3), Creature Comforts (7.6), Dead Reckoning (8.3), Downtown Farmers Market (7.2), Flamecraft (7.6), Endless Winter (8.0), Heat: Pedal to the Metal (8.2), The Initiative (7.7), Marvel Dice Throne (8.3), Paint the Roses (7.6), Planet Unknown (8.0), Root: The Marauder Expansion (8.9), Star Wars: Villainous (7.4), Turing Machine (7.9), Unmatched: Jurassic Park - Dr, Sattler vs T. Rex (8.1), Vagrantsong (7.9), Verdant (7.5), Wayfarers of the South Tigris (8.0), and Wonderland's War (8.2). Also mention: Loose Caboose! (6.9).

From Tantrum House list of their favorites of 2022 (with BGG rating in brackets): Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Collector's Edition (8.5), Creature Comforts (7.6), Dead Reckoning (8.3), Downtown Farmers Market (7.2), Endless Winter (8.0), Foundations of Rome (8.1), Green Team Wins (7.2), The Guild of Merchant Explorers (7.8), Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest (7.5), My Father's Work (8.0), Old London Bridge (7.2), Paint the Roses (7.6), Planet Unknown (8.0), Ready Set Bet (7.7), Space Station Phoenix (7.4), Terracotta Army (7.7), Verdant (7.5),