I must say, production quality/game quality, there’s a bunch of years between say 2014-2019 where good games are not only abundant, they are another level in general. SO much so, that really good games from before, if they have a reprint from those years, it would be quite likely the version most wanted. I have it clear with my copy of Brass: Lancashire, for example.
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For me there is the golden age of classic euros which lasts from about T&E and El Grande to Thurn und Taxis and Hans Teutonica. I think that phase was followed by the march of multiplayer solitaire and Feldian point salad games.
Also I had a phase where I played a ton of games that pivoted from those Euros: Robo Rally, Talisman etc. it was in the late 90s that I had access to a greater variety of games beyond mass market games like Monopoly and Spiel des Jahres.
Then in 2012 came another turning poing for me with Terra Mystica. This was the first game I ever pre-ordered before it had even been published. I had taken one look at it and knew I had to have it.
But the really big years in my estimation are 2014+2015 with tons of great games coming out. 2016 taking a bit of a break and then a lot of my personal favorites coming in in 2017 and 2018.
I have played only a few games close to their original publication due to availability issues among others. Playing something within a year or two of original publication for me doesn’t count yet as “later discovery” … Spirit Island was published in Germany in 2018 for example. At that point my main intersection with boardgames as a hobby was preparing and going to Spiel in October. So how else could I really find out about new games?
For games from 2019 onwards the pandemic has taken its toll. I have had few game nights and those I had were mostly online. Some purchases from late Spiel ‘19 and shortly after are still languishing on my shelf of opportunity.
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I put it twice in both my lists… sorry to trick you into it… 
We are all mentioning the pandemic from 2019 onwards. Would the KS explosion have influenced some too?
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Kickstarter for me only took off in 2018 I think. I had a few KS before that but I really went all in when Spirit Island Jagged Earth came to KS. So yes, from 2019 onwards I have a bunch more KS games in my lists. Oath being the only one though so far to make 1st place in my lists. (Architects of the West Kingdom was not a KS for me, I bought the German version at Spiel…)
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I am not having a dig at crowdfunding, I think it can be a great tool (if we look at the top 100 in BGG, the amount of KS games is very important). But the point I want to make is yes, the pandemic was key (specially in 2020) but the growth in numbers may have added a lot of… for lack of a better word… straw?? Stuffing??
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Crowdfunding has certainly added a lot of games to my lists. Among current games and preorders about 20% is crowdfunded now—I am counting games that crowdfunded a Geman version like Brass Birmingham or The King is Dead while not counting games that were originally crowdfunded but I purchased as retail like Architects or Gloomhaven or Spirit Island. I know crowdfunding has influenced my general purchasing behavior and may partially be responsible for me buying games much earlier in their cycle than I used to together with the pandemic preventing me from going to Spiel where I would normally try to get those “hard to find” games.
The more I think about the games I play rather than just playing whatever strikes our fancy when game night comes around the more this will change whatever I consider “game of the year”.
I do hope that I learned a few lessons from my not-so-great early Kickstarter games and my second wave of “omg why did you have to go all in on this?” Kickstarters… many of which never got close to contention for the game of the year from 2018 onwards…
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Fixed up my stupid list and actually make a proper games of the year.
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Time to join in this theme. My list contains games I have owned although I do not own all of them currently as some were sold in various house moves prior to coming to Spain. I have also omitted some classic ancient strategy games (Chess, Kalah/Oware) and 20th-century mass-market games from my childhood (such as Monopoly, Scrabble, Ludo).
- 1946: Stratego (although I have an early 80s version)
- 1947: Subbuteo (although I have an early 80s version)
- 1958: Gettysburg
- 1965: Blitzkrieg
- 1967: Exploration
- 1971: Campaign
- 1972: The Business Game
- 1973: Statis Pro Football (although I have/had cards for the 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1990 seasons)
- 1974: Kingmaker
- 1975: Wealth of Nations
- 1977: Game of Dracula
- 1978: Travel Go
- 1979: Star Fleet Battles
- 1981: Trivial Pursuit
- 1982: Survive (Escape from Atlantis)
- 1983: Scotland Yard (although close choice with Battlecars and Talisman 1st edition)
- 1984: Spitting Image
- 1985: Warrior Knights
- 1986: Outburst!
- 1987: The Fury of Dracula (1st edition)
- 1988: Dark Future
- 1989: a tie between HeroQuest and Space Hulk
- 1990: Mighty Empires
- 1992: Articulate!
- 1993: Man O’ War
- 1994: Talisman (3rd edition)
- 1996: Kill Doctor Lucky
- 1999: Deadwood (1st edition)
- 2000: Carcassonne
- 2001: Witch Trial
- 2004: Memoir '44
- 2007: Last Night on Earth
- 2008: A Touch of Evil (but a very tough call with Pandemic, Le Havre and Ghost Stories also great)
- 2009: Cards Against Humanity (sorry, not sorry - but Cyclades would surely beat it if I ever got to play it with others!)
- 2010: Lords of Vegas (with Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft closely behind)
- 2011: Fortune and Glory
- 2012: Legendary Marvel
- 2013: Eldritch Horror (with Firefly a close second)
- 2014: Star Realms (although Sheriff of Nottingham may top it after more plays)
- 2015: Viticulture Essential Edition (sorry to Codenames and Mysterium)
- 2016: Pandemic: Iberia (sorry to One Deck Dungeon and former favourite Terraforming Mars)
- 2017: Nusfjord (another strong year, topping The Quest for El Dorado and Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks)
- 2018: Architects of the West Kingdom
- 2019: Horrified
- 2021: Agropolis
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