Each January, I make a geeklist, using the ratings on BGG to determine who was the (subjective) best board game designer.

Some criteria/disclaimers for the list...

1.) I used a simple formula - I took the sum total of all the ratings for all games and expansions that the designer had on boardgamegeek, and found the average. This list is in the order of the highest average rating, and descending.

2.) To make the list, a designer had to have
- at least 2750 total rankings
- more than one game (or one variation of a game). This canceled out William Attia (Caylus), Jay Tummelson (St. Petersburg), Bernard Tavitian (Blokus), Laurent Lavaur and Eric Randall (Formula De), and Emiliano Sciarra (Bang!)

3.) It took me a bit to gather all this information together, with the great help of Matthew Gray, so some of the information has already changed slightly - but not enough to drastically change my numbers.

4.) When I ranked the designers for each of the three statistics, I only ranked them against the fifty-seven designers who met the criteria. Starting in 2006, the list has been capped at 50 designers, although any designer who meets the criteria will still count for ranking purposes. This year, seven designers missed the list. They are: Tom Jolly (# 51), Paul Peterson (# 52), James Ernest (# 53), Alex Randolph (# 54), Todd Breitenstein (# 55), Steve Jackson (# 56), and Andrew Looney (# 57).

5.) I've also listed the top-rated game of each designer (the one pictured in most cases), their lowest rated game, and the game that has generated the most exposure (i.e. has the most ratings.) This year, I decided to drop expansions and variations from this - so you'll see their top rated GAME.

6.) For any game to make the highest, most played, etc. - they must have at least thirty ratings. (I'm using normal ratings, not Baynesian)

7.) Yes, I'm using expansions. I think they're worth of addition - and therefore added in their ratings, etc.

8.) I've included the numbers from 2006 (in which there were 53 designers included), 2005 (in which there was 37 designers included), and 2004 (in which there was 32 designers). If a designer has no stats for those years, then this is the first year they've made the list.

All statistics on this list are as of January, 2007

Comments on 2007 ratings as a whole...
- I think that EVERY designer on this list is fantastic, and has done a great job. Let's not get hung up on if a designer is # 12 or # 13, it's not that big a deal.
- I think the influence of "American" games is stronger here on the 'Geek than people realize. Just look at the jumps some of the designers of these games have taken!
- I know that practically no one agrees with me on my method - and that's fine! But regardless of what you think, I do think that this is a neat snapshot of the last four years, and I look forward to seeing how it progresses in the future.
- Thank you to Matthew Gray, who allowed me to bug him to gather up some of this info.
- I apologize to all those folk whose favorite designer is lower than they wished. I have no agenda here, just using the same system as the past four years. Some designers (like Keyartes) will probably not make the cut next year, unless they start producing new games.

Oh, and Happy New Year!