Global most played board games over time from 2000 to 2023

Bar chart race of unique user plays recorded on boardgamegeek.com (smoothed out a bit). It's fascinating how game playing trends change over time.
BGG recorded plays: boardgamegeek....
A few top games over time: Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Agricola, Dominion, 7 Wonders, Splendor, Terraforming Mars, Azul, Wingspan, Ark Nova.
Avid board gamer since 2010 boardgamegeek....
I also run a 3D printing channel: / mihaidesigns
#nerdymove #boardgames #shorts

[@nerdymove]

Thanks for watching! BGG recorded plays: boardgamegeek.com/plays/bygame/subtype/All/start/2023-08-01/end/2023-08-31?sortby=distinctusers

[@rappscallion3238]

According to stats from BGG. Sadly, this is not a reflection of reality, only board game nerds like me who actually log their play. Outside of that I'd wager games like Monopoly is the still leader by a mile.

[@andymcguire237]

Exactly my thought; this data seems like the world left Monopoly behind decades ago and now everyone is playing Wingspan and Ark Nova every family game night. In reality, the average person on the street has never heard of those games.

[@maximilianomartinmassera9609]

no one is playing monopoly, small childs are playing cel games, adults are playing boardgames

[@alwaysplaythegame]

True, and it underrepresents games that are big enough to have their own websites for content such as Magic the Gathering (which avoids BGG almost entirely but would be on the list if using any metric).

[@Tr3yWill]

The most played game at the board game cafe I work at is Battleship. A lot of young couples come in, and that is the most popular, easy classic game pick.

[@Krian_The_Demon]

+I guess they don't account for board role play games, dnd and pathfinder would be on top aswell

[@GWA_UK]

I just sorted out my copy of Carcassonne and the expansions this evening. And as phone listen to everything this popped up in my feed. Interesting

[@nicotti]

Perhaps equally as interesting is watching how the website traffic to the site increases from a few hundred to 125k.

[@loumika820]

Carcassonne never leave the top20... in 23Years. thats impressiv. Cool Video.

[@diamondmeeple]

Yes, and thats why it should been in the top 50 ranking, but the BGG team made a formula to get the games they wanted themselves.

[@AARonInRealLife]

I like how Root pokes its head out for a second.

[@Shura-23]

So that's why I don't know yet,is it worth to buy Root or not?

[@Edwinschuur]

​@@Shura-23It is worth it if you have a group of the same people to play it with. The reach is very long since each faction plays totally different. Also because of this you want to learn together the game. Else someone with much more experience will stomp the other players.

[@Shura-23]

​@@Edwinschuur I bought base game,Marauder expansion and E&P deck.We'll see. Thank you so much... 🙏

[@AARonInRealLife]

@@Shura-23 Root is my favorite board game of all time! The learning curve is steep and you have to be very strategic when introducing the game to new players. But with hard work it turns out to be one of the most rewarding board game experiences!

[@Shura-23]

@@AARonInRealLife I'm greatful to you.Great thanks for your recommend... 🙏

[@samirjafri191]

Ok, who was logging CHESS on BGG? I am guessing that people still play chess the most, but BGG was taken over by board game hobbyists. It's also weird how I felt happy when I saw that I had played so many of the games on the list.

[@MichaelDart]

BGG was taken over by board game hobbyists? Well yeah, it was created by them and for them. 😂

[@samirjafri191]

@@MichaelDart Fair point 🤪😜🤣

[@lu7ky]

Way to hang in there Carcassonne! Love that game

[@Webhead123]

Very cool idea. Thank you for putting this together. Just goes to show how varied the hobby is and how quickly things can rise and fall in popularity and how different the exposure of the enthusiast (BGG) community is from the casual, mass-market player.

[@BenetTribble]

This is an amazing video, nicely done! I should try Azul!

[@craigsomerton2359]

Fascinating to see how much the hobby has expanded over the years. The dramatic rise in numbers can probably be attributed to apps like BGStats that makes logging plays so easy. It is interesting witching the ebb and flow and how so many people embrace the cult of the new. Only one game stayed in the list the whole time - Carcassonne.

[@helxis]

And how, unsurprisingly, more popularity equals worse and/or less interesting games.

[@Artemudzin]

@@helxis not in this graph though. These are hobbyist games, they are getting better every year.

[@helxis]

@@Artemudzin I've been playing these games for many years. They are not getting better.

[@Artemudzin]

@@helxis why do you feel that way?

[@SenorVilla]

What an interesting video! I love the staying power of Carcassonne, vs other games that quickly raise to the top only to go straight back down. If you're looking for titles that would not confuse people outside the hobby, I would suggest something like "Most played board games from 2000 to 2023 (According to BGG)".

[@noeldelamesaredonda6226]

De dónde será ese ranking Seguro de USA Aquí nunca ví a nadie que jugará catan el 2000 😅😅 Siempre los más jugados fueron los clásicos como monopoly o clue De los recientes si estaría de acuerdo que azul o cascadia son muy jugados Pero ark Nova ?? Casi nadie conoce, Recién están conociendo Catan 😂😅

[@diamondmeeple]

This is why Carcassonne of course should be in the top 50 rating at BGG, however they manipulated the formula to get a twisted top 100.

[@nickbrown8892]

In perspective this sample represents those who know about and use BGG, log the games they own and then be bothered to record the number of times they play a game. So vastly not a survey of Global most played board games.

[@stanize]

Accurate or not, That was fun to watch, Thanks!

[@jester42100]

Awesome very fun!!! Thanks for putting together!!

[@andrewhazlewood4569]

Citadels stayed in the top list for years.

[@helxis]

And to this day, no one knows why.

[@marcelinebeckerrosas9023]

Nooooooooooooooooo Root was barely in sight Tu T , but well, at least appeared :´3 , and i definitely buy Wingspan, i knew it was good, but oof, is really really good askldjlakmdsa Also, Azul is a must-have game, easy to play, simple and quick, one of the better games ever

[@dylan8670]

IMO Azul is the most overrated game of the decade

[@tolperi48]

You don't need to buy wingspan, when you can buy wingspan with dragons 😊

[@helxis]

Popularity does not equal good. Wingspan is peak mediocrity.

[@brentottoson6974]

There's recorded games then there's reality. A heavy game like Power Grid being at the top is hard to swallow. Toward the the end seems more reasonable but without Root which was and is YUGE. I own a good number of the games listed. Personal faves: Everdell, Citadels and Dominion. If you can get your hands on it, Echidna Shuffle is deceivingly deeper than you would initially think.

[@Edwinschuur]

How often can you get Root to the table and how often can you get Carcassonne or Cascadia on the table? For Root you need a specific group of gamers

[@helxis]

Personal biases at work.

[@boardgameman6298]

Really cool to watch the new game of the year dart out up front for awhile and then watch it drop back in the pack. That was fun to watch, thanks!

[@willomalley7619]

Mtg plays usually weekly across the globe and doesnt have as many monthly plays as carcassone?? Especially with arena i would expect it to be higher though a game is usually 1v1 where you could.have 6 play some board games

[@angelofab15]

The stats are based in bgg. I play magic and never recorded my matches in The app

[@allthingsgood00]

Great content! Would also be interesting to see total cumulative plays. A slower changing list, no doubt, but interesting to see nonetheless!

[@playthrugames]

Yes please!

[@therealBocaStudios]

Turns out I was right. A few years ago I received a LOT of flak on a bgg post about Ark Nova data and its projected popularity. 😝

[@tmiboom]

Cool idea. Thanks for putting together the animated graphic. Really interesting to see the trends. I love statistics and who participated and how the data was acquired is very important to the result - regardless, this is fun.

[@yasminpontes4427]

Started to play Marrakesh at the beggining feeling overwelmed but liking so far

[@vicwaberub5297]

100 million games of Chess - the number 1 in the world.

[@mysticalgamerttv]

Why is D&D not on this list. It's a Table top game too.

[@JasonLayton]

Chess is definitely the most played board game in the world; and it's not close.

[@helxis]

Someone has never heard of Xiangqi, I see. Even Go players may very well outnumber Chess.

[@Againmike33]

Wow i jave never heard of any single one of those

[@SammyHoff]

I was cheering on some of my favourite games as they stormed up the charts, especially Terraforming Mars 😊

[@yasminpontes4427]

Its on my list to buy

[@peteriliev]

No one played chess in those years?

[@kerovan14]

SUPER Idea 😎

[@icalculi]

Filthy casuals 😂

[@iangc49]

Dune Imperium surpassing Arnak is the best part 😂

[@helxis]

Tell me you've only been in this hobby for a few years without telling me you've only been in this hobby for a few years.

[@chrisk_04]

Most played by nerds

[@lancetschirhart7676]

This sample is teensy

[@lancetschirhart7676]

Oh it’s growing a lot. Nice

[@williamchurch8401]

Fun!

[@erniesulovic4734]

Wow, wasn't expecting those results. I'll never buy Ticket to Ride. I work on trains for a living. Dont want a game that reminds me of my job, thanks. Spend enough time there already. Birds don't interest me in the slightest so WingSpan is totally out for me. Same with Ark Nova. Since I am looking at light, easy games as new to them and for my Mrs and 8yo granddaughter, not into any competitive games as they are deadly in rships so more into the coop type. The closest on the list I have is Carcassonne and yet to play as moving overseas to be with my Mrs and family.

[@nerdymove]

Cool! I might do a list for 8 year olds and another for coop games.

[@erniesulovic4734]

@@nerdymove That would be awesome Nerdy 🙂

[@dolantremp]

Splendor is easy and fun

[@erniesulovic4734]

@@dolantremp Thanks for the heads up 😀

[@wyatth2992]

The Loop is a fun co-op game. It has a decent amount of variability as well.

[@DanLyndon]

How does this have any correlation to reality? Like, obviously chess is the most played game, but nobody is logging chess games onto BGG.

[@helxis]

Xiangqi has entered the chat.

[@azounx]

It was the #1 game on BGG at the beginning of 2000, so some people do

[@egg1053]

the fact that ive never played any of these board games 💀

[@ZachPetch]

Totally. My ignorant self clicked this video assuming I’d see Monopoly overtaken by Cranium around 2003, with then scrabble going in and out of popularity.

[@nerdymove]

Traditional games don't usually get logged. As for Monopoly, there are for sure much better games out there.

[@egg1053]

@@nerdymove and to be fair i dont play that many boardgames past the traditional ones my mom has had since college lol

[@chriscookesuffolk]

Not sure what I'm looking at tbh

[@pjarnfelt]

It says it. Monthly plays logged by unique users. Generally, you can just see it as popularity of games over time.

[@nobodyjr8413]

Catan:🗿🗿🗿

[@Rob_Pap]

Whatever we say about Catan, it's one of the most influencial game ever and it deserve respect

[@lucaspastori8321]

Magic is not a board game but whatever.

[@rickrivers2021]

I haven't even heard of most of these lol

[@mister.green8598]

No Zombicide ? 😢

[@NemmyBlade]

Ark Nova, such a good game!

[@amemename]

Carcassone really isn’t that good a game lol

[@helxis]

Ah yes, the gradual decline of board games, in graph form.

[@maxslain4543]

Thanks for the video but the title is very misleading (read, untrue). These aren't the most played board games during this time period. One has to select the video, then read the description to learn that it's only plays that have been recorded on one specific website. I'm not saying it's clickbait but...

[@nerdymove]

Fair enough! Source is displayed in the video but am still looking for the best way to name videos without them becoming an entire paragraph long :)

[@jaydeestrong]

nah the title is not that misleading

[@maxslain4543]

It's only misleading in that it's wrong :D

[@rjfsimoes]

It's not 'wrong' at all.@@maxslain4543 Everyone knows BGG is the reference website regarding modern board games, by far. So the source is as reliable as it's possible to obtain anywhere by anyone. The title is not misleading, and the video is EXTREMELY interesting. Do not troll on a very positive contribution by @nerdymove.

[@edwardrice9170]

This data is very misleading as it only shows the data from the place that has the most number of users and data recorded for this statistic...what about all the people that play games and don't tell anyone. Very misleading.

[@Chris.M]

You never been to a chess tournament

[@jdotco23]

That was not the cleanest video. Too quick, and it's not really clear what I'm really looking at. Unique gamers only? Or could it be the same unique user with multiple plays of the same game? Physical game sessions only? Or online, too? Dominion has its own online site, and I highly doubt those plays are getting logged on BGG, but that would've kept it on this the entire time, I imagine.

[@pjarnfelt]

These types of videos are very common on the internet and I think the format is fine. And yes it's logged plays on BGG only, not a comprehensive guide to all played games ever. Then it would be monopoly, monopoly monopoly sadly.

[@DanLyndon]

​@@pjarnfelt I'm pretty sure chess is a great deal more popular than monopoly.

[@RAWxxx07]

What is the Lord of the Rings game? Ist it the LCG?