They are a very underappreciated form of entertainment. Card games too. I mean, for a while they were just the typical Monopoly/Trivial Pursuit/Sorry style games, but now there's so much creative games out there.
There are indeed a wide variety of fun ones, especially in the cooperative scene. Pandemic is a great example, and there's expansions for it too. My favorite cooperative board games would be the Forbidden _ series (Forbidden Island, Desert, Skies, and Jungle), because each one is similar in how it's played, but so different at the same time. Island involves collecting artifacts on a sinking island, Desert involves assembling a flying machine to escape a desert before being buried alive, Skies I don't have yet, and Jungle involves escaping through a portal before alien creatures overwhelm you. Jungle I haven't beaten yet despite playing 3 times.