Etherfields is one of the best board games I've ever played. Beautiful, thematic, exploratory, unique, great mechanics.
Seventh Continent is also fun from an exploratory point of view, though it has a bit more self-similarity in its gameplay loop such that the mechanics can get old, but the exploration doesn't.
On the other end of the spectrum, Jaipur is a two-player quick card game with great style and fun, great mechanics, and much of the "reading another player" of a gin/pinochle/etc style game.
Seventh Continent is also fun from an exploratory point of view, though it has a bit more self-similarity in its gameplay loop such that the mechanics can get old, but the exploration doesn't.
On the other end of the spectrum, Jaipur is a two-player quick card game with great style and fun, great mechanics, and much of the "reading another player" of a gin/pinochle/etc style game.