BoardGameGeek (BGG) is an online forum for board gaming hobbyists and a user-generated game database that holds reviews, images and videos for over 150,000 different tabletop games, including European-style board games, wargames, and card games. The site allows users to rate games on a 1–10 scale and shows these as a ranked list of board games. It is considered the most-used website by board game enthusiasts since the 2000s, and recent academic literature about board games relies on the website. The New York Times in 2019 called it "the hub of board gaming on the internet."
History
BoardGameGeek was founded in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko. Alden had an ambition for the website to be the "worldwide definitive resource for board games." The site's early structure was based on Alden's earlier work from 1996, 3DGameGeek. This was a similar site which hosted discussions on digital games with three-dimensional graphics.
In 2005, BGG began hosting an annual board game convention, BGG.CON, that has a focus on playing games and where winners of the Golden Geek Awards are announced. New games are showcased and convention staff is provided to teach rules. In 2010, BGG received the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming which recognized it as "a resource without peer for board and card gamers, the recognized authority of this online community." On the BGG forums, posts seeking new players and groups for playing tabletop games roughly tripled from 2005 to 2015, growing at a rate of 10% per year. By 2014, the website's database held cross-referenced entries for over 65,000 games, 9,000 artists, 13,000 publishers and 18,000 designers. By April 2019, it covered 80,000 titles. Over 250,000 users had rated at least one game on the website, with a total of 15 million ratings.
In 2019, the site updated its logo, which originally depicted a white blond man with spectacles running with a checkerboard. Alden wrote that "BGG welcomes all gamers, whatever your level of experience or particular tastes, and updating the logo reflects our belief that gaming is for everyone, not just geeky guys with glasses. Whatever our differences individually, gaming brings us together. Our new symbol is a nod to BGG's past, while also inviting you to see yourself in that silhouette—or to find your passion for play represented in that 'game flame.'"
In 2020, BGG was inducted into the Origins Award Hall of Fame that year. In 2024, the website had information on over 150,000 board games, and was being regularly accessed by 300,000 active users.
Design
BoardGameGeek's central piece is its large database of cross-referenced entries of board games, artists, publishers and designers. To navigate this database, users can browse categories of board games.
2006–2009
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!Category
!2006
!2007
!2008
!2009
|-
! scope="row" |Game of the Year
|Caylus
|Shogun
|Agricola
|Dominion
|-
! scope="row" |Best Strategy Game
|Caylus
|Shogun
|Agricola
|Le Havre
|-
! scope="row" |Best Wargame
|Twilight Struggle
|Combat Commander: Europe
|Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage
|Combat Commander: Pacific
|-
! scope="row" |Best Children's Board Game
|Nacht Der Magier
|Zooloretto
|Chateau Roquefort
|Sorry! Sliders
|-
! scope="row" |Best 2-Player Board Game
|Twilight Struggle
|BattleLore and Commands & Colors: Ancients
|Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage
|Space Hulk (third edition)
|-
! scope="row" |Best Family Board Game
|Ingenious
|Zooloretto
|Thebes
|Pandemic
|-
! scope="row" |Best Party Board Game
|Diamant
|Wits and Wagers
|Say Anything
|Time's Up! Deluxe
|-
! scope="row" |Best Card Game
| -
|Caylus Magna Carta
|Race for the Galaxy
|Dominion
|-
! scope="row" | Best Board Game Artwork/Presentation
| -
|BattleLore
|Jamaica
|Space Hulk (third edition)
|-
! scope="row" |Best Board Game Expansion
| -
| -
| -
|Pandemic: On The Brink
|-
! scope="row" |Best Print & Play Board Game
| -
| -
| -
|Dune Express
|-
! scope="row" |Best Innovative Board Game
| -
| -
| -
|Space Alert
|}
2010–2019
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!Category
!2010
!2011
!2012
!2013
!2014
!2015
!2016
!2017
!2018
!2019
|-
! scope="row" |Game of the Year
|War of the Ring Collector's Edition
|Mansions of Madness
|Mage Knight Board Game
|Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island
|Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game
|Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
|Scythe
|Gloomhaven
|Root
|Dune
|-
! scope="row" |Best Abstract Board Game
|FITS
|Paris Connection
|Kingdom Builder
|Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends
|Patchwork
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|-
! scope="row" |Best Cooperative Game
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|Mechs vs. Minions
|Gloomhaven
|The Mind
|The Crew: The Quest For Planet Nine
|-
! scope="row" |Best Solo Game
| -
| -
| -
| -
|Imperial Settlers
|Tiny Epic Galaxies
|Scythe
|Gloomhaven
|That's Pretty Clever
|Wingspan
|}
;RPG and Video Game awards
RPG and Video game awards were introduced in 2014 and awarded through 2017. Only 1 category was awarded in 2018, and none in following years.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!Category
!2014
!2015
!2016
!2017
!2018
|-
! scope="row" |Best RPG Artwork/Presentation
|Player's Handbook (D&D 5e)
|Mouse Guard (2nd Edition)
|Volo's Guide to Monsters
|Xanathar's Guide to Everything
| -
|-
! scope="row" |Best RPG Supplement Winner
|Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set
|The Dracula Dossier: Director's Handbook
|Volo's Guide to Monsters
|Xanathar's Guide to Everything
| -
|-
! scope="row" |RPG of the Year
|Dungeon Master's Guide (D&D 5e)<br/>
Player's Handbook (D&D 5e)<br/>
Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)
|Blades in the Dark
|7th Sea
|Tales from the Loop
| -
|-
! scope="row" |Best Indie Video Game Winner
|Star Realms
|Rocket League
|Stardew Valley
|Cuphead
| -
|-
! scope="row" |Best Mobile/Handheld Video Game
|Star Realms
|Fallout Shelter
|Twilight Struggle
|Through the Ages
| -
|-
! scope="row" |Best Video Game Visuals/Artwork
|The Banner Saga
|The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
|Overwatch
|The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
| -
|-
! scope="row" |Most Innovative Video Game
|Galaxy Trucker
| -
|Pokémon GO
|The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
| -
|-
! scope="row" |Video Game of the Year Winner
|Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
|Multiple Winners
|Multiple Winners
|Multiple Winners
| -
|-
! scope="row" |Best Board Game App Winner
| -
| -
|Twilight Struggle
|Through the Ages
|Ganz Schön Clever
|}
2020–present
2020 saw many awards replaced with new categories, such as "Board Game of the Year" replaced with "Game of the Year, Light", "Medium" and "Heavy".
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!Category
!2020
!2021
!2022
!2023
!2024
!2025
|-
! scope="row" |Game of the Year, Light
|MicroMacro: Crime City
|Cascadia
|Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition
|Thunder Road: Vendetta
|Castle Combo
|Hot Streak
|-
! scope="row" |Game of the Year, Medium
|Lost Ruins of Arnak
|The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
|Heat: Pedal to the Metal
|Earth
|Harmonies
|The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
|-
! scope="row" |Game of the Year, Heavy
|Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
|Ark Nova
|Carnegie
|Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory
|SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
|Galactic Cruise
|-
! scope="row" |Best Wargame
|Forgotten Waters
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|-
! scope="row" |Best Party Game