List of years in games
This page indexes lists of games by their years of release. For video games, see List of years in video games.
1970s
This decade saw the board wargame gain a level of popularity. It also saw the appearance of the earliest, simple video games, and the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.1970 in games1971 in games1972 in games1973 in games1974 in games1975 in games1976 in games1977 in games1978 in games- '''1979 in games'''
1980s
1980 in games1981 in games1982 in games1983 in games1984 in games1985 in games1986 in games1987 in games1988 in games- '''1989 in games'''
1990s
Major shake-ups occur in the who's-who of US game publishing and distribution. Wizards of the Coast, which started the decade as a small West Coast publisher, buys veteran Avalon Hill later in the decade, only to be bought up in turn by industry juggernaut Hasbro. TSR and Iron Crown Enterprises both collapse.The collectible card game became a dominant business model, first by Magic: The Gathering then by several rivals. By the mid-nineties, hundreds of CCGs competed for market share, and most of these products were culled for weak sales. Collectible gaming also expanded from cards into dice, tiles, and miniatures.
The Settlers of Catan breaks Eurogaming into the American market, becoming an overnight bestseller and gateway game. Publishers such as Mayfair Games and Rio Grande Games begin meeting the new market demand with titles from Europe.1990 in games
Online retailing begins to pose a challenge to "brick and mortar" game stores, though the full effects of e-commerce will not be felt until the following decade.1991 in games1992 in games1993 in games1994 in games1995 in games1996 in games1997 in games1998 in games
- '''1999 in games'''
2000s
The internet continues to shake up the publishing and distribution of games. Online retailing becomes a serious threat to "brick and mortar" retailers. Desktop publishing proves to be a boon for hobby game designers, and the door is opened for many small publishers producing their own game designs. Z-Man Games and Fantasy Flight Games become major players in the US hobby game industry. Miniatures games dominate the collectible games market.2000 in games2001 in games2002 in games2003 in games2004 in games2005 in games2006 in games2007 in games2008 in games- '''2009 in games'''
2010s
2010 in games2011 in games2012 in games2013 in games2014 in games2015 in games2016 in games2017 in games2018 in games- '''2019 in games'''
2020s
2020 in games2021 in games2022 in games2023 in games2024 in games- '''2025 in games'''