I'm the author of the forthcoming book, 101 Great Games. The goal of the book and this website is to promote great games to the masses. The content of both the book and this site will be influenced by you, the game players.

Vote for your favorite games and invite your friends to do the same. Games with the most votes and the most passionate player recommendations will rise to the top. Will the book be dominated by American mass market games that have sold tens of millions of copies or European games that have a rabid following of fans? Will it feature more specialty board games like Settlers of Catan or lean more toward fantastic pieces of plastic like Trouble? You help decide. The top contributors here will win an autographed first edition of 101 Great Games and free games from the final list! Seize the play!

1) Sign up to join 101 Great Games. It's free and your vote counts!
2) Hit Games on the top menu to search for one of your favorite games and "join" it. You are now in a group dedicated to that game. We'll rank games by members and our list will be automatically updated! If you care to, tell the other editors of this site and I why the game is so great. Be specific. Be passionate!
3) Vote for as many games as you like, but you can only vote for a particular game once.
4) Once you're inside a game group share why you love the game by contributing to the discussion. If you've played the game with friends and you know they love it too, tell them to join you by hitting the "Invite More People" link.
5) If one of your favorite games is not listed, you can "Add a Game." Search for the game first to make sure it's not already here. Duplicate games will be deleted. See rules below for game criteria.

If you want to add a game that you love and you're sure it's not listed here, consider these general guidelines. These are also the guidelines by which the editors will determine what games make the cut:
1) The game should be in print (meaning you can buy it now, new).
2) It should offer face-to-face play. Games with electronic components are allowed, but the focus of the game should be on player-to-player interaction, not electronics.
3) The game should be playable by the minimum number of players stated in the game's rules, in two hours or less, once the players are familiar with the rules.
4) The game should not be in the public domain (no chess, backgammon, etc.)
5) Family-friendly games only.
6) Games should be for ages 7 or older and appeal to adults or adults playing with kids, i.e. no preschool games.

Membership has its privileges, but the editors have final say. The final list will be made by looking at the total votes, the convincing recommendations of the voters and test play by the editors.

If a game falls outside any of the above guidelines, know that it will have strike(s) against it. It will remain in the running until we assess voting, recommendations and play testing. New games that fall outside the stated guidelines may be rejected from inclusion.

Thanks to those of you who've helped us clarify game criteria.