The Internet Top 100 Games List is a ranked list of non-computer games, mostly board and card games. The list is maintained by Aaron D. Fuegi at Boston University, who publishes, weekly, both a list of all rated games and a list containing the top 100.

The rankings are generated by ratings sent in by Internet users, who give each game they wish to rate a score between 0 and 10. Rankings are not determined according to average rating-- as this would allow a single '10' vote to place a game at the top of the list-- but according to a score measuring both the average rating and the number of ratings given (since a game receiving more ratings, if not necessarily a better game, is at least better known and has therefore somehow achieved better market penetration). Specifically, each game is given, in addition to ratings sent in by contributors, 5 ratings of 3.25. This prevents games with very few ratings from achieving high scores that could corrupt the rankings. As a game accumulates more ratings, its score asymptotically approaches the average of the ratings given to it.

As of October 2004, 695 contributors have submitted 73,475 ratings.

Contents

1 Controversy 2 Some games featured on the list 2.1 The top six 2.2 Ranks of well-known games 2.3 At the bottom 2.4 Other facts 3 External links

Controversy

One of the greatest problems with such a list is verifiability. Though it is not known to have happened in this particular case, it is possible for contributors to "cheat" by voting multiply by establishing multiple anonymous email accounts. Fuegi retains the right to reject suspicious contributions for this reason, in order to prevent such behavior.

Similarly, as preferences of the gaming community change over time, there is no expectation that the rankings will be stable. Indeed they likely will not, with new games being created all the time.

Finally, the unexpected high or low positions of certain games call the validity of the rankings, as a measure of game quality, into question. For example, Chess is ranked only at #229, with 329 ratings averaging 6.18. Many would argue that it, by its sheer longevity and ability to captivate the minds of those who play it, is deserving of a much higher rating, and accuse that Chess and Go have been seemingly underrated simply because few people play these games often enough to understand them at even the most basic level.

Similarly, Monopoly is rated quite lowly on Fuegi's list, even though it has shown enormous commercial success.

Most of the games in the top 20 are German-style board games, and only one of them (Bridge) is more than twenty years old.

Some games featured on the list

As of October 18, 2004 (note that this information is expected to change over time):

The top six

• Puerto Rico is listed as #1, with 208 ratings averaging 8.65.
• Tigris and Euphrates is #2, with 388 ratings averaging 7.90.
• Settlers of Catan is #3, with 557 ratings averaging 7.79.
• Princes of Florence is #4, with 220 ratings averaging 7.85.
• Modern Art is #5, with 275 ratings averaging 7.59.
• El Grande is #6, with 390 ratings averaging 7.55.

Ranks of well-known games

• Bridge is #26, with 183 ratings averaging 7.16.
• Go is #62, with 204 ratings averaging 6.75.
• Chess is #229, with 329 ratings averaging 6.18.
• Monopoly is #2512, with 350 ratings averaging 3.94.

At the bottom

• Candy Land is #4542, with 90 ratings averaging 2.06.
• War (card game) is #4543, with 90 ratings averaging 1.72.
• Tic tac toe is last, at #4544, with 127 ratings averaging 1.49.

Other facts

• The highest-rated public domain game is Bridge, at #26. It is also the highest-rated game invented before 1985.
• The highest-rated game invented after January 1, 2004 is Goa, ranked at #14 with 23 ratings averaging 8.07.
• The most-rated game is Settlers of Catan, with 557 ratings.
• To rank in the top 100 games, a game must acquire a score of 6.497.
• Designer Reiner Knizia is heavily represented on the top 100, with six games in the top 20 and eighteen in the top 100.
• The most rapidly-rising game appears to be San Juan, at #28, which debuted on the list in early 2004.

External links

• The Top 100 Games (http://scv.bu.edu/~aarondf/Top100/list.txt)
• The Full List of 4544 games (http://scv.bu.edu/~aarondf/Top100/full.txt)