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This is a far better authority on tabletop gaming than Vox in the OP.

Also not super impressed with: > Fog of Love is available exclusively from Walmart for some reason

It should still be taken with a grain of salt. E.g Istanbul beat Concordia. I have both games. Istanbul is good. But Concordia is a modern classic.

Not all of the good games in 2017 necessarily even qualify for the Spiel des Jahres or the Kennerspiel des Jahres. E.g. Gloomhaven, 7th Continent.

Right. I enjoy Istanbul, but for the most part, it seems like you just pick one or two economic engines as soon as you see the board layout, and then work on the one that has the least competitors on a given turn. The strategy changes enough between turns to make it fun, but not enough to make it one of the greats.

SdJ isn't always right, but still a better choice for best game of the year than J. Random Blogger's pick.

Agreed. When I started out getting a gaming collection, I read about the winners and recommends of SdJ, and picked among those. Ended up with 7 Wonders, Codenames, Dixit and Spyfall. Got to say it gives you some perspective on Risk and Monopoly.

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