I don't understand why Amazons isn't a more popular game - it's easy to improvise a set, very simple to learn, beautifully elegant and profoundly deep. We play on a 10x10 draughts board with chess pawns and go stones. Reminiscent of Go, which is my #1 game.

Hey, That's My Fish! does a great job of reimplementing the gameplay, extending it to 2-4 players and making it visually appealing.

Elven Castle is a light 3D castle-building game with weather-proof pieces that comes in a smallish box. It has huge visual appeal, a simple rule set, quick to play yet manages to be an interesting challenge to play well at all player counts. And just fun. The scenarios that come in the box will keep it fresh for a long time to come. A total hit with everyone I've played with so far.

I've always played with the staircases rule.

I'm really impressed with this pocket-sized two-player abstract. Almost as easy to learn as tic-tac-toe (thanks to the intuitive graphic design), thoroughly satisfying to play, and pretty to boot.

Manages to be sufficiently evocative of dogfighting (with planes, not with dogs) that you can forget you're playing a combinatorial abstract strategy game. The learning curve is good, it plays quickly, and (thanks in part to the clouds) it has excellent replayability.

This is such a smart design. An auction game in which money is unlimited - sounds like it shouldn't work, but it does, brilliantly. Because of the simple twist that whoever spends the most money can't win, the game is self-regulating and escalates organically. You can bid anything from a dollar to a billion, yet you're agonising over setting your bid a few bucks this way or that.

I was thrilled to discover that it works almost as well with 3 players as it does with 4 (although I'm convinced it would be no good with 2).

And all this with just one page of rules. Not to mention beautifully overproduced wooden components. This is now one of my favourite auction games, along with Modern Art and Container.

The "Pucket" version from Et Games is beautiful, a thing of art. The sound of wood on wood and laughter is the sound of happiness.

One of the BEST games for hooking in game-sceptics. Some people seem naturally very good at it (myself included!) and some rubbish, which can limit the appeal for badly matched pairs - but on the whole excellent.

In childhood we had a much beloved Sjoelen set. Pucket scratches the same itch, but its quick pace and portability make it a winner for me.

Heavy, man.

I really admire the designer for realising such a truly independent and rigorous vision while still succeeding in making a good game. This ignores the hype and commercial momentum of the board game industry and manages to be like nothing else. Deeply thematic, utterly strange, and borderline genius.

I can love an ugly game (I'm looking at you, Modern Art), but I strongly appreciate good aesthetics, and this game has an incredible aesthetic. A game about taking a spiritual hallucinogenic trip that is so absorbing and surreal that you actually feel like you've taken one.

Beautiful area control abstract. Deceptive, in that it seems solvable, but turns out to be pretty darn hard to solve.

It has hidden layers - one of those games where every now and then something “clicks” and you find yourself playing a level better.

The perfect airplane solo game. Each game uses just 9 cards and a handful of colourful dice (which are not rolled, but used to keep track of your score), and yet there are agonising decisions every time.

Similar to The Climbers but with a dexterity element and a more interesting first few moves. Beautiful to handle and to look at, strategic, and viciously cut-throat (which is a plus for me).

KOSMOS printed a version with half the pieces called Cornerstone Essential or Turmbauer.

This is a wonderful small-box bidding game, with a side order of negotiation. It's comparable with For Sale in terms of simple rules leading to satisfying tactical interplay. So cheap, and so portable, it should be in everyone's collection.

This game is so simple and with such a timeless feel that it could have been invented thousands of years ago. A clever two-player abstract in which every move you make risks benefitting your opponent more than you.

Along with Connect Four, this is the best non-dexterity game to use gravity as a core mechanic. It's a mini marble run - how cool!

The beauty of this game is that your skill is tested against the laws of physics - and even if you expected the marble to take a different route, the physics is consistent every time. (Although if you change the variables even slightly, the marble may follow a different route e.g. starting the marble from a different height above the channel or rotating the board between tests if the table isn't 100% flat).

Roll-and-move games would have a far better reputation if they were all like this.

As well as being a wall-worthy work of art and wonderful nostalgia, this Pacman homage is well balanced and FUN. For me, worth the hefty price tag.

I love that people who don’t normally play games see the board and want to try it. And then want to play again!

You can buy a budget version from http://spielquader.de but for me the incredible aesthetic of the maxi version is what makes it so wonderful. The clicky pills! The floppy disc eyes! The thrill of resetting the board with all its little magnets KA-CHUNK!

And the prize for the most obscure game goes to...

This is a tactile game of deduction and calculated risk based on the Electoral College. At first glance it might seem too simple to be satisfying, yet we keep coming back to it, and it's always a pleasure to play.

It's fun to call yourself President when you win.

Puzzly, brain burning but plays quickly and simply, which sounds like a contradiction but this game pulls it off. Fun.

Some people struggle to understand the challenges that have no stones, but one of the neat things is that the difficulty is so easily adjustable.

There are many games that involve stacking things on top of other things, because it's a fundamentally satisfying activity - even more so when you're competing against other players. This game is the simplest (and one of the oldest) of its type. The boldly coloured wooden pieces give it a great aesthetic, and the natural tension of adding just one more piece can't be beat.