Happy New Year! It’s the start of a new quarter, so I’ve compiled lists of the board games that have shown large positive movement within BGG‘s top 500 in the past three months. The usual caveats about recategorization (etc.) apply. Incidentally, FiveThirtyEight put out a very interesting article yesterday featuring graphs of some BGG user rating data: how user ratings related to board games’ year of publication, maximum number of players, and average play time. Anyway, on to the lists.

Fast, positive movers among 'Board games':
036 (+132) Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game
112 (+304) Five Tribes
159 (+331) Imperial Settlers
220 (+280) Castles of Mad King Ludwig
242 (+258) Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game
332 (+168) King of New York
363 (+137) Star Wars: Imperial Assault
369 (+131) Sheriff of Nottingham
382 (+118) Sushi Go!

Fast, positive movers among 'Strategy games':
104 (+396) Castles of Mad King Ludwig
214 (+286) Lords of Vegas
221 (+279) Xia: Legends of a Drift System
258 (+242) Abyss
263 (+237) Alchemists
272 (+228) Pandemic: The Cure
273 (+227) Patchistory
278 (+222) Panamax

Fast, positive movers among 'War games':
010 (+490) War of the Ring (first edition)
075 (+425) The Battle of Five Armies
151 (+349) Warhammer: Diskwars
160 (+340) 1944: Race to the Rhine
222 (+278) Warmachine
257 (+243) Wir sind das Volk!
268 (+232) Warfighter: The Tactical Special Forces Card Game

Fast, positive movers among 'Family games':
030 (+470) King of New York
038 (+462) Sheriff of Nottingham
062 (+438) Abyss
066 (+434) Pandemic: The Cure
079 (+421) Eight-Minute Empire: Legends
094 (+406) Colt Express
138 (+362) Timeline: Diversity
144 (+356) Evolution
150 (+350) Port Royal
161 (+339) Black Fleet
170 (+330) Riff Raff
171 (+329) Pantheon
174 (+326) La Isla
200 (+300) Patchwork
220 (+280) Indigo
271 (+229) Red7
295 (+205) Viva Topo!

Fast, positive movers among 'Collectible games':
007 (+493) Marvel Dice Masters: Uncanny X-Men
009 (+491) Legendary: Villains – Marvel Deck Building Game
037 (+463) Blue Moon
059 (+441) Warmachine: High Command
075 (+425) Nature of the Beast: City vs. Suburb
099 (+401) Adventure Time: Card Wars – Finn vs. Jake
103 (+397) Battle Scenes
166 (+334) Shadowrun Duels

Fast, positive movers among 'Thematic games':
023 (+477) Star Wars: Imperial Assault
057 (+362) Shadows of Brimstone: City of the Ancients
073 (+427) Legendary: Villains – Marvel Deck Building Game
082 (+418) Arcadia Quest
088 (+237) The Battle of Five Armies
097 (+403) Shadows of Brimstone: Swamps of Death
101 (+399) Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles – Base Set
126 (+374) Mysterium
142 (+358) Evolution
222 (+278) Greenland
223 (+277) The Battle at Kemble's Cascade
227 (+273) Thebes: The Tomb Raiders
290 (+210) Assault on Doomrock