I just wanted to comment that he is my number 1 too. Well said, yashima 
Also Isaac Childres for Gloomhaven gets a special mention. That’s the game I spent the most time with (playing and thinking about it).
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A further vote for Chvaatil too. I think a designer that has such a broad range and fantastic at heavyweight and lightweight games gets a great deal of respect from me. I’ve cooled on Codenames over the years but it’s a brilliant intro game, and Mage Knight is both a wonderful solo experience and fun multiplayer too. I really enjoyed the forum game we played of it a little while ago.
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There’s only one possible answer to this question for me: Richard Garfield.
Best game ever: KeyForge by Richard Garfield
Favourite game: KeyForge by Richard Garfield
Biggest impact on the industry: Magic the Gathering by Richard Garfield. While not for me, this seems to be what keeps the majority of FLGS afloat.
If I could only play games by one designer for a year, for multiplayer it certainly wouldn’t be a hardship to stick to:
- KeyForge and Netrunner, which both have endless depth and replayability
- Carnival of Monsters, which doesn’t seem that popular, but I always love it
- Bunny Kingdom, MingBug and The Hunger, which are all jolly good fun
- And, for something new, there’s RoboRally and SolForge Fusion waiting on the shelf of opportunity
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Another worshipper at the altar of Vlaada Chvátil here.
I haven’t played enough games to say with any authority that he’s the best designer, but I can very confidently state that he’s my favourite designer. All his games feel so different and I’ve loved all of them.
It certainly doesn’t hurt that the bicycle-sidecar that Quinns and Paul build and ride at the start of the Galaxy Trucker review cracks me up every time I watch it!
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Four thoughts at this point:
- It seems like Chvatil is the democratic favorite. Rosette awarded!
- However, I love the diversity of answers. And none of them are unjustified. We’ve been spoiled these last 10-15 years with the craftspeople in this industry.
- I’m also noting the complete absence of Jamey Stegmeier here. It seems my work poisoning the well is done!
- Just a shout out to Breese and Bleasedale for giving us Keyflower.
We’ve kind of touched on that via Spirit Island and Gloomhaven. Any other one hit wonders who don’t quite rate for this topic but still have given us a single, supremely beautiful box and deserve a honorary footnote?
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Only Scythe I liked. His games actively repels me. That and Scott Almes. It’s one thing when playing a Feld and you just shrug and move on. His board games pisses me off as a form of entertainment.
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I definitely thought about nominating Friedemann Friese for his green weirdos for innovation if nothing else and I saw someone mentioned him and have to second that. He has earned a medal for the effort of trying to abstract game design with 504 even if it sucked to play any of those games. With my bigger shelves I might have kept it. Also while only having played it once ages ago I think Funkenschlag is influential as a game in its own right.
Another name who hasn’t come up is Corey Konietzka. I have only played Mandalorian Adventures and none of this classics though.
Then there is Rob Daviau who more or less invented Legacy games.
Eric M Lang has been mentioned.
Price for least-known despite a bunch of good games from my personal affinities list I’d also like to shout Eilif Svensson | Board Game Designer | BoardGameGeek and Kristian Amundsen Østby | Board Game Designer | BoardGameGeek who frequently collaborate. My fave of theirs being Revive.
more 1 hit wonders:
- As for more 1-hit-wonders Mr Dominion/Kingdom Builder has already been mentioned. Certainly a 2-hit wonder.
- Klaus Teuber mostly did Catan. And nothing else. But that one deserves a price no matter how much I hate it.
- Almost forgot Terra Mystica in the 1 hit wonders category: Jens Drögemüller | Board Game Designer | BoardGameGeek and Helge Ostertag | Board Game Designer | BoardGameGeek
PS: Perplexity.ai lists Antoine Bauza as #1 
Before Vlaada, Feld and Rosenberg…
We should do some “up and coming” designers
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I’m gonna throw Elizabeth Hargrave out as consistently good and likely to keep going strong.
I’ve only played Wingspan and The Fox Experiment. I like Wingspan ok. I’ll play it if it’s on offer but have no need to own a copy. Impossible to deny the impact it has had on opening up the hobby. The Fox Experiment is innovative and fun. I definitely want to play it again. Im not sure it has the variety and longevity I want, but it might and is still a good game.
Of her other games, I’ve heard good things about Tussie Mussie and Mariposa both. Undergrove is too new for me to know much.
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Obviously anything I post here is my opinion but I suspect I will be in a minority on this one: Asger Harding Granerud. Flamme Rouge is great. I love it. Heat starts with Flamme Rouge and throws away all the bits I like. And I bought Bloom Town untested because it was the next thing he’d designed after Flamme Rouge, and it was a great big meh: I’ve played Between Two Cities, and Bloom Town adds basically nothing new and takes away the gimmick.
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I don’t feel like I’ve played enough games by any designer to crown someone “the best”. I have enjoyed most games I’ve played by Antoine Bauza, Vlaada Chvatil, Wolfgang Warsch, Bruno Cathala, and Reiner Knizia, so I’ll rank them all up there.
I get the argument again Knizia, as he’s published hundreds of games, but many of them are not very good, but the ones that are are pretty great!
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Klaus-Jürgen Wrede must deserve something for Carcassonne?
(And does he also deserve the blame for all games apparently having to have expansions? Although I actually quite enjoy a lot of the Carcassonne expansions).
Has Love Letter been mentioned in the discussions about impact? (Apologies if it has and I’ve missed it.)
I’m personally very grateful to the designers of Robinson Crusoe and Archipelago, as they are very definitely two of my very favourite games. But I wouldn’t suggest either designer should be anywhere near a ‘best designer’ award.
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Jacob Fryxelius (sp?) has had one mega hit with Terraforming Mars (with the Ares off shoots now)
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I think we can blame capitalism for that one.
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A bazillion pounds is probably reasonable compensation for being ignored here.
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I find the phrase one hit wonder comes with a tang of sarcasm - i feel like it needs more esteem to it in the modern culture. Like so what if white town only had your woman as a one hit wonder. What a thing and moment to be involved with.
Speaking of which does Alan Moon (the ticket to ride one) count as someone with an exceptional single effort? Just saying this makes me realise how much days of wonder must have been involved in this too.
I get the sense with Knizia that he’s always got a game to sell to a publisher but if the publisher is good they’ll get a good one off him and everyone else is just happy to have his name on the box.
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Also would anyone mention: John D Clair?
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I certainly didn’t mean anything negative by the term here. because the games i mentioned in the category are most certainly wonderful. If it takes everything out of a designer to make such a game they seem worth it to me. I’d rather make one exceptional game then 10 mediocre ones.
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I think it was more elsewhere I’ve heard it used this way. I completely agree though, just to make one good thing is an amazing achievement. Even to publish a game (not self publish) is a high achievement. To have a person or people say they are willing to throw money in a dustbin on the chance they’ll make more back feels like a big expression of faith that I imagine feels very humbling (the first time at least!).
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I think it is often used pejoratively in music when referring to manufactured ‘hits’ off the back of things like X Factor or similar - they get the ‘hit’ because of the show’s popularity, not for any particular talent. The hit itself is not really very impressive.
If it is something an artist (whether a singer or a boardgame designer!) has worked on, developed and is great but then for reasons, never makes another one or just never has reached those heights again, then I think the ‘wonder’ part can be celebrated.
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You can only do Snoopy vs the Red Baron once. Didn’t stop them trying again, of course.
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