With so many board games coming out every year, many of which have hefty price tags, it's hard to tell which ones are hits and which aren't worth the money- which is where Board Game Geek comes in handy.
The BGG community is made up of gamers with years of experience who are passionate about board games, so they won't pull punches with their reviews when they feel a game didn't live up to the hype.
Take Gloomhaven for example, the community's pick for Board Game of the Year- Gloomhaven has been well hyped since it was in the Kickstarter phase of development, and yet BGG community member Jvandereck believes it doesn't live up to the hype.
Personally, I still want to check out Gloomhaven even after reading Jvandereck's review, but I'll definitely wait until it's going for way less than $200 because that's way too much to play for a game IMO.
Here are the rest of BGG's picks for the Top Board Games of 2017:
Board game of the year
Winner – Gloomhaven
Runner Up - Azul
Runner Up - The 7th Continent
2-player game
Winner – Codenames Duet
Runner Up – Caverna: Cave vs. Cave
Runner Up – The Fox in the Forest
Artwork & Presentation
Winner – Photosynthesis
Runner Up – Azul
Runner Up – Sagrada
Card Game
Winner – Century: Spice Road
Runner Up – Clank! In! Space!
Runner Up – Ethnos
Cooperative Game
Winner – Gloomhaven
Runner Up – The 7th Continent
Runner Up – Pandemic Legacy: Season 2
Expansion
Winner – Scythe: The Wind Gambit
Runner Up – Terraforming Mars: Hellas & Elysium
Runner Up – Terraforming Mars: Venus Next
Family Game
Winner – Azul
Runner Up – Sagrada
Runner Up – Century: Spice Road
Innovation
Winner – Gloomhaven
Runner Up – The 7th Continent
Runner Up – Magic Maze
Party Game
Winner – Werewords
Runner Up – Spyfall 2
Runner Up – Tortuga 1667
Print & Play
Winner — My Little Scythe
Runner Up – A4 Quest
Runner Up – Doctor Who: Solitaire Story Game (Second Edition)
Solo Game
Winner — Gloomhaven
Runner Up – The 7th Continent
Runner Up – Nemo’s War (Second Edition)
Strategy Game
Winner – Gloomhaven
Runner Up – Clans of Caledonia
Runner Up – Azul
Thematic Game
Winner – Gloomhaven
Runner Up – The 7th Continent
Runner Up – This War of Mine: The Board Game
Wargame
Winner – 878 Vikings – The Invasion of England
Runner Up – Time of Crisis
Runner Up – Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain
-Via Polygon