The Games 100 is an annual feature of Games magazine, a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles. The Games 100 first appeared in the November/December 1980 issue as an alphabetic list of the 100 games preferred by the editors of the magazine. In 1981, Games introduced The Games 100 Contest, which involved identifying pieces from games listed in the Games 100, with the grand prize being more than half of the games on that list. Games continues to publish this list as "The Buyers Guide to Games", broken out into "The Traditional Games 100" and "The Electronic Games 100".

Lists are published in either the November or December issue. (There was no list in 1990, because Games was out of print when the list would have been published.) Through 1994, the lists for a year were published at the end of that year. Starting in 1995, lists for the prior year are released at the end of a year. (This means that there was no list published in 1995, as it would have been a repeat of the games of 1994.) There are several categories for which "best" games are determined.

The winner of the historical category for approximately the last ten years has been determined by one individual, Walt O'Hara, who runs the Historicon miniatures convention.

Winning titles

{| class="wikitable" style="width:95%;"

|-

! Year

! Game of the Year

! Abstract strategy

! Advanced strategy

! Family

! Family card

! Family strategy

! Party

! Puzzle

! Word

! Historical simulation

! Other

|-

! 1991

| Trumpet || Master Labyrinth || - || Stack || Arcade: Wing Commander || Real-Life Strategy: Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective || Tabloid Teasers/Guesstures || 3 In Three || 'Swoggle || War/Adventure: HeroQuest || Trivia: Play It By Ear

|-

! 1992

| Sharp Shooters || Strategy: Quixo || Conflict: Colonial Diplomacy || Touché || Phantoms of the Ice || Sports: Dynasty League Baseball || Catch Phrase || Lights Out || Pre.fix || Adventure & Role Playing: Dragon Dice: Battle Box || Trivia: Chronicles<br/>CCG: On the Edge CCG: Standard Starter Deck

|-

! 1997

| 25 Words or Less || Transpose || Strategy & Conflict: Field Command || Mole in the Hole || 6 nimmt! || Priceless || Last Chance || Deluxe Lights Out || Bethump'd With Words || Adventure & Role-Playing: Dragonlance: Fifth Age || Trivia: Origins

|-

! 1998

| Quoridor || Balanx || Strategy & Conflict: Princess Ryan's Star Marines || Take It Easy || Get the Goods || Quandary || Wise and Otherwise || Lost in a Jigsaw || A to Z || - || Trivia: Director's Cut<br/>CCG: Magic: The Gathering - Portal

|-

! 1999

| Fossil || GIPF || Conflict: Atlantic Storm || Montgolfiere || Bohnanza || El Grande || Say When!! || Stormy Seas || Alpha Blitz || - || Trivia: Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?<br/>CCG: C 23

|-

! 2000

| Torres || Octi || Memory: Mamma Mia || Moonshot || Buried Treasure || Tikal || Apples to Apples || Ricochet Robot || Double Quick! || - || Trivia: Bioviva<br/>CCG: Pokémon<br/>Dexterity: Spintrek

|-

! 2001

| Aladdin's Dragons || ZÈRTZ || The Princes of Florence || Café International || Hellrail || Web of Power || Democrazy || Lunar Lockout || - || Paths of Glory || Two-Player Card: Caesar & Cleopatra<br/>Dexterity: Carabande

|-

! 2002

| Evo || Morisi || Java || Africa || Babel || Lord of the Rings || Hilarium || Flip-It! || My Word! || Drive on Paris || Manual Dexterity: Space Game

|-

! 2003

| DVONN || Pueblo || Puerto Rico || Emerald || Vom Kap Bis Kairo (From Cape to Cairo) || Mexica || Moods || Nemesis Factor || - || Wilderness War || Manual Dexterity: Villa Paletti

|-

! 2004

| New England || Clans || Wildlife || I'm the Boss! || Queen's Necklace || Zoosim || Party/Trivia: Dibs || River Crossing || Crossword Pyramids || Hammer of the Scots || Two-Player Card: Balloon Cup

|-

! 2005

| BuyWord || YINSH || Tahuantinsuyu: The Rise of the Inca Empire || Vanished Planet || Victory & Honor || Alexandros || Party/Trivia: Cranium Hoopla || - || - || Memoir '44 || -

|-

! 2006

| Australia || Project Kells || Louis XIV || Der Untergang von Pompeji (Escape from Pompeii) || Die Weinhändler (The Wine Merchants) || Primordial Soup (a.k.a. Ursuppe) || Party/Trivia: Snorta! || Tipover || - || Friedrich || Two-Player: Jambo

|-

! 2007

| Vegas Showdown || PÜNCT || Reef Encounter || Tricky Town || Trump, Tricks, Game! || Hacienda || Wits and Wagers || Gordian's Knot || Parlay || Silent War || -

|-

! 2008

| Pillars of the Earth || Easter Island || Khronos || If Wishes Were Fishes || Bull in a China Shop || Shear Panic || Gift Trap || Sacred Myths and Legends Series || Unspeakable Words || Ran || -

|-

! 2009

| Tzaar || Ponte del Diavolo || Key Harvest || Pandemic || Palast Geflüster (Palace Whisperings) || Stone Age || Go Nuts! || Doris || Jumbulaya || Pacific Typhoon || -

|-

! 2010

| Small World || Blox || Le Havre || Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age || Amerigo || Dominion/Dominion Intrigue (Expansion) || Dixit || La Ora Stelo || - || Fields of Fire || -

|-

! 2011

| Jump Gate || Arimaa || Egizia || Burger Joint || Jaipur || Valdora || Telestrations || Anti-Virus || - || Battles of Napoleon: The Eagle and the Lion || -

|-

! 2012

| Tikal II: The Lost Temple || Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War || Die Burgen von Burgund (The Castles of Burgundy) || Lemming Mafia || Hey Waiter! || Glen More || Funfair || IQ Twist || Pathwords || Command and Colors: Napoleonics || -

|-

! 2013

| Trajan || Matter || Village || Takenoko || Decktet/Decktet Book || Zong Shi || Pluckin' Pairs || Cool Circuits || Kerflip! || - || -

|-

! 2014

| Garden Dice/The Card Expansion || Kulami || Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar || Via Appia || Morels || Triassic Terror || Homestretch: Race to the Finish || Laser Maze || - || - || -

|}

Hall of Fame

Part of the Buyer's Guide includes a hall of fame for "games that have met or exceeded the highest standards of quality and play value and have been continuously in production for at least 10 years; i.e., classics."

This Hall of Fame includes:

  • Acquire
  • Apples to Apples
  • Axis & Allies
  • Blockhead!
  • Bridgette
  • Civilization
  • Cluedo (Clue)
  • Diplomacy
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • Magic: The Gathering (inducted in the 2004 Buyer's Guide