6 degrees of separation in the boardgaming industry

In my introductory course on network science I usually use the popular "Hollywood actor network" to introduce students to the topological characteristics of social networks. This network is the basis for the Kevin Bacon-game, where you try to get from any actor to Kevin Bacon, by movies that they have appeared in together.

The Hollywood network is great (and a classic), but I prefer a game night over a movie night. Also, I like the idea of using networks to describe relationships between products in an industry. Long story short, I have constructed a Boardgame Network where boardgames are connected by the people who create them (artists and designers). This site is basically for my students, but others might find the idea interesting as well.

You can explore the Boardgame network here.

A PDF with statistics and images is here.