From Erik Arneson,
Your Guide to Board / Card Games.
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These are the companies that published the 50 most culturally and historically significant board games and card games published since 1800. The companies are listed here in alphabetical order; the games are listed chronologically under each company.

Companies with more than one game on this list include Milton Bradley (11), Parker Brothers (9), Avalon Hill (6), 3M (2), Mayfair Games (2), and TSR (2). There are four public domain games on the list.

3M (2 games)

• Acquire (1962)
• Facts in Five (1967)

APBA (1 game)

• APBA Baseball (1951)

Avalon Hill (6 games)

• Diplomacy (1959)
• Football Strategy (1960)
• Tactics II (1961)
• Civilization (1980)
• Adel Verpflichtet / By Hook or Crook (1990)
• We the People (1994)

Cadaco (1 game)

• Ethan Allen's All-Star Baseball Game (1941)

Eon (1 game)

• Cosmic Encounter (1977)

FX Schmid (1 game)

• Adel Verpflichtet / By Hook or Crook (1990)

Games Workshop (1 game)

• Warhammer (1983)

Gibsons Games (1 game)

• Hare and Tortoise (1979)

Horn Abbot Ltd. (1 game)

• Trivial Pursuit (1982)

International Games (1 game)

• Uno (1971)

Jamie Swise Games (1 game)

• Who Killed Roger Ellington? (1982)

Kosmos (1 game)

• Settlers of Catan (1995)

Mayfair Games (2 games)

• Empire Builder (1980)
• Settlers of Catan (1995)

Milton Bradley (11 games)

• The Checkered Game of Life (1860)
• Chutes and Ladders (1943)
• Candyland (1949)
• Yahtzee (1956)
• Concentration (1959)
• Game of the States (1960)
• Password (1962)
• Jeopardy (1964)
• Twister (1966)
• Axis and Allies (1984)
• Scotland Yard (1985)

Parker Brothers (9 games)

• Pit (1904)
• Rook (1906)
• Sorry! (1934)
• Monopoly (1935)
• Clue / Cluedo (1949)
• Risk (1959)
• Stop Thief (1979)
• Balderdash (1984)
• Pictionary (1986)

Ravensburger (1 game)

• Scotland Yard (1985)

Screenlife (1 game)

• Scene It? (2002)

Selchow and Righter (1 game)

• Scrabble (1948)

TSR (2 games)

• Dungeons and Dragons (1973)
• Dungeon (1975)

Tudor (1 game)

• Electric Football (1949)

W. & S.B. Ives (1 game)

• The Mansion of Happiness (1843)

Wallie Dorr Company (1 game)

• Touring (1906)

Wizards of the Coast (1 game)

• Magic: The Gathering (1993)

Public Domain Games (4 games)

• Kriegspiel (1824)
• Crokinole (1876)
• Tiddlywinks (1888)
• Werewolf / Mafia (1986)

NOTE: If you add up the total number of games listed on this page, you'll get something more than 50. This is because several games were published simultaneously by more than one publisher and are listed under each company.