There's a scifi convention in my home municipality near Stockholm this weekend: Fantastika 2016. I'm giving a talk on my Medieval castles project, and I'm also on a boardgame recommendations panel. Below is the list I'm bringing: it's a selection of my favourites with an emphasis on the period 2010-2016.
"BGG rank" refers to the Boardgame Geek web site, where lower is better. So the higher the number here, the less conventional the recommendation. To put the rankings in perspective, note that BGG covers tens of thousands of games.

Game | BGG Rank |
7 Wonders (2010) | 26 |
Agricola (2007) | 8 |
Caylus Magna Carta (2007) | 498 |
Death Angel (Space Hulk CG; 2010) | 453 |
Elysium (2015) | 236 |
Glass Road (2013) | 163 |
Innovation (2010) | 217 |
Istanbul (2014) | 93 |
Love Letter (2012) | 145 |
Pandemic (2008) | 51 |
Pergamon (2011) | 747 |
Plato 3000 (2012) | 2787 |
Province (2014) | 1699 |
Samurai (1998) | 136 |
Shogun (2006) | 96 |
Thebes (2007) | 298 |
Tigris & Euphrates (1997) | 45 |
Yggdrasil (2011) | 499 |
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I'm not a player myself, but wanted to get a game as a present for a friend, and I immediately thought of Aadvarchaeology. Sure enough, here's a list of recommendations. Thanks :)
Happy to help! What are you getting?
I got Pandemic: The Cure (they didn't have the original, but said good things about The Cure). I haven't played it yet, will post an update when I do.
I also recommend getting The Cure: Disintegration. (-;
Sure. I feel like listening to some British rock, and I couldn't ask for a more relevant title. ;)