Ok, just checked, I've played 32 of them...that means I recognized 26 games that I've never even played just by seeing a couple letters from their box covers.
This is screaming out for the "Elements Song" Treatment, a la Tom Lehrer. If we can figure out the names of all the games, I could put together a flash animation with the names of the games as a song, I think. (One is at http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html).
A note to "puzzle solvers": It would appear that some of the letters are not exactly as they appear on the box - In the case of Zinc, for example, the game has a Z and an N in the name, but they're not actually together.
Yes, but the games always start with the first letter of the symbol, and the other letter is somewhere in the name. For example, Tigris and Euphrates could be represented by Tg, Tr, Ts, Ti, Te, or many others. Also, when "The" begins a name is is ignored. One final hint to solvers: All games are in the BGG top 1000 (most are in the top 500) with one exception: Xe. Enjoy!
Thanks for the comments, everyone! I had no idea this would be such a big success! A big thank you to all who gave GG tips_ I am still trying to earn an avatar!
Here are all of the answers (from left to right):
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal):
Hive, Hera and Zeus, Liar's Dice, Betrayal at the House on the Hill, BattleLore, Carcassonne, Netrunner, On the Underground, For Sale, Neuroshima Hex!, Napoleon's Triumph, Magic: The Gathering, Alhambra, (Silent Wars? can't remember maybe I will later), Pillars of the Earth, Shogun, Clans, Arkham Horror, Kahuna, Caylus, Scotland Yard, Ticket to Ride, Vikings, Crusader Rex, Mykerinos, Fearsome Floors, Coloretto, Niagara, Cuba, Zendo, Galaxy Trucker, Geschenkt, ASL, Settlers of Catan, Brass, Kreta, RoboRally, SPQR, Yinsh, Zertz, Napoleon's Last Battles, Modern Art, Tichu, Rumis, Ricochet Robots, Pandemic, Agricola, Citadels, Ingenious, San Juan, Subbuteo, Tempus, Indonesia, Xe Queo!, Cosmic Encounter, Battle Line, La Citta, Hey! That's My Fish!, Tamsk, Wits and Wagers, R-Eco, Odin's Ravens, Imperial, Punct, Aquaretto, Hamburgum, Twilight Struggle, Pueblo, Bitter Woods, Power Grid, Aton, Revolution, Friedrich, Ra, Ace of Aces- Rotary Series, Reef Encounter, Hansa, Sieben Siegel,Bohnanza, Hammer of the Scots, Metropolys, Dschunke, Race for the Galaxy, Chicago Express, Primordial Soup, Notre Dame, Portbello Market, Samurai, Euchre, Goldland, Thebes, Diplomacy, Hollywood Blockbuster, Europe Engulfed, Twilight Imperial, You're Bluffing!, Lunar Wars, Through the Desert, Paths of Glory, Ubongo, Napoleon Waterloo Campaign 1815, Puerto Rico, Amun-Re, Commanders and Colors Ancients, Blokus, Confucius, Elasund, Formula D, Medina, Nexus Ops, Lord of the Rings.
This is an elemental table of games, but if you want a game of the elemental table, you can try http://www.sporcle.com/games/elements.php. 15 minutes to name as many elements as you can.
Hive, Friedrich, Magic The Gathering, Caylus, Ra, Yinsh, La Citta, Ticket to Ride, Tzaar, Hey that's My Fish!, Reef Encounter, Chicago Express, Through The Ages, Vikings, Tzaar, Hanza, Paths of Glory Notre Dame, Ubongo, Bohnansa, Samuraj, Puerto Rico, Coloretto, Mystery of the Abbey?, Euprhat & Tigris?, Amun-Re, Niagara, Pandemic, Punct, Cuba, Agricola, Aquaretto, Race for the Galaxy, Blokus, Znedo, Hamburgum, Battle Lore, Alhambra, Galaxy Trucker, Ingenious, Carcassonne, San Juan, Twillight Imperium, On the Underground, Shogun, Nottingham, For Sale, Indonesia, Aton, Neuroshima Hex, Arkham Horror, Kreta,
Hive, Hera and Zeus, Liar's Dice, Betrayal at the House on the Hill, BattleLore, Carcassonne, Netrunner, On the Underground, For Sale, Neuroshima Hex!, Napoleon's Triumph, Magic: The Gathering, Alhambra, (Silent Wars? can't remember maybe I will later), Pillars of the Earth, Shogun, Clans, Arkham Horror, Kahuna, Caylus, Scotland Yard, Ticket to Ride, Vikings, Crusader Rex, Mykerinos, Fearsome Floors, Coloretto, Niagara, Cuba, Zendo, Galaxy Trucker, Geschenkt, ASL, Settlers of Catan, Brass, Kreta, RoboRally, SPQR, Yinsh, Zertz, Napoleon's Last Battles, Modern Art, Tichu, Rumis, Ricochet Robots, Pandemic, Agricola, Citadels, Ingenious, San Juan, Subbuteo, Tempus, Indonesia, Xe Queo!, Cosmic Encounter, Battle Line, La Citta, Hey! That's My Fish!, Tamsk, Wits and Wagers, R-Eco, Odin's Ravens, Imperial, Punct, Aquaretto, Hamburgum, Twilight Struggle, Pueblo, Bitter Woods, Power Grid, Aton, Revolution, Friedrich, Ra, Ace of Aces- Rotary Series, Reef Encounter, Hansa, Sieben Siegel,Bohnanza, Hammer of the Scots, Metropolys, Dschunke, Race for the Galaxy, Chicago Express, Primordial Soup, Notre Dame, Portbello Market, Samurai, Euchre, Goldland, Thebes, Diplomacy, Hollywood Blockbuster, Europe Engulfed, Twilight Imperial, You're Bluffing!, Lunar Wars, Through the Desert, Paths of Glory, Ubongo, Napoleon Waterloo Campaign 1815, Puerto Rico, Amun-Re, Commanders and Colors Ancients, Blokus, Confucius, Elasund, Formula D, Medina, Nexus Ops, Lord of the Rings.
The one you "couldn't remember is the easiest one: "Die SI edler von Catan". Perhaps you didn't see it, cause you were lookin for "Settlers"
It was solitaire with cool cards. Zero interaction
Looking for a playtester/editor/translator for your cool new game? Contact us, we're free (but we ask to be mentioned in the acknowledgements, and a copy of the game would be a nice gesture, but not necessary).
Yes, I made it first with a chart in Excel which organized which board game to use with each element symbol. Then I cropped each game's representative image in Paint and manipulated the images into rows and columns. It took about 8 hours
mmmmm... none? 
