best/worst board games by genre:
war:
best: War at Sea. Simple rules plenty of strategies, good battles.
worst: just about all the rest because too many rules and geekiness.
abstract:
worst: chess. It's PLAYED. It's done. The top players are just way out there solving little endgames, the rest of it is a done deal, and you either have it memorized or you don't. More about experience than thinking.
best: go. I don't play this but the concept is brilliant, simple yet endlessly complex. Computers finally beat human champions for the first time recently.
hop around board:
worst: monopoly. Truly awful.
best: Escape from New York. Pick up weapons and get in fights and stuff. A fun stupid movie is the perfect subject for this type of game.
Risk could have been great, the battle model is brilliant, but the overall rules are hopelessly flawed, particularly the continent values.