Highest Rated Board Games

20 games · 8.4–8.9 BGG rating

BoardGameGeek (BGG) is the largest board game database in the world, with millions of user ratings across tens of thousands of titles. The BGG rating uses a Bayesian average that weighs both the average score and the number of ratings, preventing obscure games with a handful of perfect scores from dominating the rankings.

The games in this ranking represent the highest-rated titles on BGG, excluding expansions. These are the games that consistently earn top marks from the global board gaming community — spanning genres from heavy strategy euros to accessible family games. A BGG rating above 8.0 is considered exceptional, and games above 8.5 are in truly rarefied air.

Whether you are building a collection or looking for your next great game night pick, this list represents the community consensus on the best board games ever made.
How we ranked these

Ranked by BGG Bayesian average rating (descending). Expansions excluded. Only games with a BGG rating are included.

🥇 #1
Small World Designer Edition

2015 · 2-6 players

Small World's Designer Edition is a spare-no-expense version of Small World the board game; this version of the game is true to Philippe Keyaerts' original wooden prototype. The Designer Edition will

8.94 rating 2.58/5 weight 2-6P 40-80 min
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🥈 #2
Last Chance for Victory

2014 · 2 players

(from MMP website:) Last Chance for Victory is the next entry in The Gamers’ Line of Battle series (LoB) which simulates the Battle of Gettysburg. It is the second game in the series, following

8.77 rating 4.11/5 weight 2P 60 min
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🥉 #3
Last Blitzkrieg

2016 · 2-4 players

Last Blitzkrieg is the first entry in the new Battalion Combat Series (BCS), which simulates combat in World War II (and beyond) at the battalion scale. Its subject is the German Ardennes offensive Wa

8.71 rating 3.78/5 weight 2-4P 180-960 min
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  1. War of the Ring Collector's Edition is a strategic wargame in a fantasy setting where one player takes control of the Free Peoples, and the other player controls Shadow Armies. As with the standard v

    8.71 rating 3.98/5 weight 2-4P 180 min
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  2. Stonewall Jackson's Way II

    2013 · 1-2 players

    (from MMP website:) Stonewall Jackson’s Way II: Battles of Bull Run is the 9th game in the award-winning Great Campaigns of the American Civil War (GCACW) series. This game is actually two comp

    8.67 rating 3.67/5 weight 1-2P
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  3. (from the designer:) "CRUSADE AND REVOLUTION: The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939" (C&R) is a card-driven point-to-point movement strategic-operational wargame that covers all the Spanish Civi

    8.58 rating 3.31/5 weight 1-2P 300 min
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  4. Enemy Action: Ardennes

    2015 · 1-2 players

    Enemy Action: Ardennes is the first in a series of card-driven war games on pivotal operations and campaigns in World War II, from John Butterfield, designer of RAF, D-Day at Omaha Beach, Ambush! and

    8.57 rating 4.26/5 weight 1-2P
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  5. Brass: Birmingham

    2018 · 2-4 players

    Brass: Birmingham (2018) is a network-building and economic strategy game for 2-4 players set during the British Industrial Revolution. Over 60-120 minutes, players develop industries such as cotton m

    8.57 rating 4.35/5 weight 2-4P 60-120 min
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  6. Brass: Birmingham

    2018 · 2-4 players

    Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game sequel to Martin Wallace's 2007 masterpiece, Brass. Brass: Birmingham tells the story of competing entrepreneurs in Birmingham during the industrial revo

    8.57 rating 3.86/5 weight 2-4P 60-120 min
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  7. The Greatest Day: Sword, Juno, and Gold Beaches, Battle for Normandy: Volume One, is the first volume in a three volume series covering the battle of Normandy in June of 1944. It not only introduces a

    8.56 rating 4.04/5 weight 2-8P 60-6000 min
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  8. Gloomhaven

    2017 · 1-4 players

    Gloomhaven is a game of Euro-inspired tactical combat in a persistent world of shifting motives. Players will take on the roles of wandering adventurers with their own special sets of skills and thei

    8.54 rating 3.92/5 weight 1-4P 60-120 min
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  9. Ark Nova

    2021 · 1-4 players

    Ark Nova (2021) is a card-driven engine-building game for 1-4 players focused on designing and managing a modern zoological park. Players spend 90-150 minutes drafting animal cards, constructing enclo

    8.54 rating 3.79/5 weight 1-4P 90-150 min
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  10. From the Clash of Arms May 2008 Works In Progress flyer: Fontenoy brings the highly successful Battles from the Age of Reason series to the War of Austrian Succession, with several nationalities not

    8.53 rating 4.21/5 weight 1-2P
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  11. Terra Mystica: Big Box

    2015 · 2-5 players

    Terra Mystica: Big Box, a Korean crowdfunding compilation, contains Terra Mystica, the Fire & Ice expansion, and the four town tiles and shipping marker bonuses as well as special terrain tiles for Fi

    8.53 rating 4.00/5 weight 2-5P 60-150 min
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  12. (from MMP website:) Decision at Elst is the first Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit Historical Module and covers the battle at Elst, Holland, in September 1944 between British and German units during

    8.51 rating 3.84/5 weight 2P
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  13. Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

    2015 · 2-4 players

    Pandemic Legacy is a co-operative campaign game, with an overarching story-arc played through 12-24 sessions, depending on how well your group does at the game. At the beginning, the game starts very

    8.50 rating 2.83/5 weight 2-4P 60 min
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  14. "Dien Bien Phu - The Final Gamble" is a two player game about the decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 that not only ended the French Indochina war, but also had political repercussions

    8.48 rating 3.04/5 weight 2P
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  15. Tunisia II

    2016 · 1-2 players

    Tunisia II is an Operational Combat Series (OCS) game from Multi-Man Publishing covering the campaign in Northwest Africa from November 1942 through May 1943. This new edition is similar to the origi

    8.42 rating 4.27/5 weight 1-2P
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  16. Star Wars: Rebellion

    2016 · 2-4 players

    From the publisher: Star Wars: Rebellion is a board game of epic conflict between the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance for two to four players! Experience the Galactic Civil War like never before.

    8.42 rating 3.75/5 weight 2-4P 180-240 min
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  17. Dune: Imperium

    2020 · 1-4 players

    Dune: Imperium (2020) is a worker placement and deck-building game for 1-4 players set in the universe of Frank Herbert's Dune, playing in 60-120 minutes. Players dispatch agents to key locations on A

    8.41 rating 3.08/5 weight 1-4P 60-120 min
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Frequently Asked Questions

How is the BGG rating calculated?
BoardGameGeek uses a Bayesian average rating that combines the arithmetic mean of user scores with a prior based on the site-wide average. This prevents games with very few ratings from appearing artificially high or low. A game needs a substantial number of ratings for its BGG score to closely reflect its true average.
What is considered a good BGG rating?
On BGG's 1-10 scale, a rating above 7.0 is generally considered good, above 7.5 is very good, and above 8.0 is excellent. Games rated above 8.5 are among the highest-rated in the entire database of over 100,000 titles. The all-time #1 game typically sits around 8.8.
Why are expansions excluded from this ranking?
Expansions are excluded because they require a base game to play and are not standalone experiences. Including them would skew the list toward franchises rather than individual game designs. BGG also separates base games and expansions in their own rankings.

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