BoardGameGeek
BoardGameGeek is a website started in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko as a resource for the board gaming hobby. The database holds reviews, articles and session reports for over 25,000 different games, expansions and designers, including card games and other tabletop games, as well as German-style board games, wargames and traditional board games.
The site includes bulletin boards and a marketplace, together with a gamer database to match up board gamers in the same location. The site also features online playing of some of the board games.
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Game rankings
The site allows users to rate games on a 1–10 scale. The average and Bayesian average rating is presented for each game. The latter is used to generate a ranked list of games. [1] Only games with at least 30 users rating them are included in the ranked list.
As of November 2006, the top 10 highest ranked games on BoardGameGeek are:
- Puerto Rico by Andreas Seyfarth, 2002
- Tigris & Euphrates by Reiner Knizia, 1997
- Caylus by William Attia, 2005
- Power Grid by Friedemann Friese, 2004
- El Grande by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich, 1996
- The Princes of Florence by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich, 2000
- Die Macher by Karl-Heinz Schmiel, 1986
- Age of Steam by Martin Wallace, 2002
- Ra by Reiner Knizia, 1999
- War of the Ring by Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello, and Roberto Di Meglio, 2004
Tic-Tac-Toe has long remained at the bottom of the rankings list.
In 2006, an additional list of top-ranked wargames was created, in part due to the typically small number of ratings these games receive, causing them to be lost in the overall rating list.
Community
BoardGameGeek is a large community, with a variety of traditions and in-jokes that have emerged over the years. One major activity is the creation of GeekLists, which are lists of games based on a particular theme, or games that people want to trade. There are also forums in which members argue over such issues as the merits of theme versus mechanics, European versus American design, and how to best calculate game rating statistics. One lasting joke is a recurring reference to the game Busen Memo, which is a variant of memory using breasts. There is also a large community of Werewolf players, and online games are frequently arranged on the forums. A rotating, game related cartoon is featured on the front page.
GeekGold
The site uses a virtual currency, GeekGold, to reward users who provide site content (images, reviews, rule translations or other information about games) as well as those who peer-review that content. GeekGold can be spent to obtain permission to display an avatar, different types of badges, voting privileges in the "Geekies" (annual awards given to the best games for their category in the year, as voted by the users) or to buy games or accesories that are being auctioned off by other users of the site.
Generally, GeekGold is not available for direct purchase, however in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it was briefly made available for direct purchase, with all of the proceeds being donated to the Red Cross. [2] A total of $36,403 was raised between September 1, 2005 and September 9, 2005.
GeekGold is achieved in many ways, and players may choose to give some of their GeekGold to another user, for a review or other item that they enjoyed. GeekGold has also been traded for money many times, a type of trade that the admins do not discourage, although no official exchange rate has been reached.
External link
Categories
Board game websites | Gaming websites | Online databases