I’m just curious what games keep you coming back, but I’ll go first (in no particular order)
Twilight Imperium - excellent for when you want to give your brain a real workout and enjoy some cutthroat strategy.
Munchkin - It’s not a masterpiece or anything, but it’s a blast with friends
Red Dragon Inn - Not dissimilar to Munchkin for the high quality evening with friends potential. Expansions are endless, but almost always worth the change of pace. Does suffer from a little power creep between the OG box and the stuff released after it.
Xia Legends of a drift system - Best played on Tabletop Sim, but this sci-fi game about being a starship captain creates some great stories with friends.
Space Base - You might be seeing a bit of a theme here, but really they’re just really good games. Space Base is a pretty refined worker placement game, and it doesn’t take 9 hours like some of the games on this list.
Sheriff of Nottingham - Social deduction, pettiness, and silly voices, what’s not to love?
The King’s Dilemma - Okay this one is a bit of a cheaty one, it’s a legacy game but with the right crew who like to get in character it’s a fantastic experience.
Alright, your turn!
Betrayal was my intro into proper board games vs monopoly and ludo and chess. And it thoroughly blew me away with how complex and flavourful board games could be.
Now I have half a Kallax chock full of board games and It continues encroaching on the book territory.