Custom Board Game Boxes

Two wrapped trays make a game box

A game box is two rigid trays, a base and a lid, each made from greyboard and wrapped in printed paper.

Each half starts as a flat piece of greyboard cut and scored into a tray. The corners are taped or stayed, then a sheet of printed paper is glued over the outside and folded over the top edge into the inside. The lid is made a little larger than the base so it slides down over it.

Because the box is made up rather than folded flat, it arrives ready to use and keeps its shape for years of play. That strength is the reason games use it: the box is opened and closed many times, stacked on shelves and carried to friends' houses.

• Base and lid made as separate trays
• Paper wrap folds over into the inside edge
• Arrives made up, not flat

Greyboard, wrap paper and trays

Greyboard gives the strength, the wrap paper carries the art, and the tray decides how well the game packs away.

Greyboard for game boxes is commonly in the 1.5-2.5mm range. Thinner board keeps the weight down for small games; thicker board stops a heavy box from bowing in the middle of the lid when other games sit on top of it.

The inner tray can be a simple card well that holds the board flat with the bits in a space below, a set of card dividers, or a vacuum-formed or moulded tray with a cavity for each type of piece. A fitted tray looks tidy and stops pieces mixing, but it has to be drawn around the final components, so it is best left until they are fixed.

Sizing around the board and the bits

The folded board sets the footprint, and the components set the depth.

Start with the game board folded to its final size, then add a few millimetres of clearance on each side so it drops in and lifts out without catching. The rulebook usually sits on top, so it should be the same size as the folded board or a little smaller.

Depth comes from what sits under the board: trays, card decks, tokens, dice and any figures. Measure the tallest stack and allow some air, because a lid that has to be forced down over a full tray will split its corners. Send us every final component before the size is settled, as a late change can mean a new tray and a new box.

• Footprint: folded board plus clearance
• Depth: tallest stack of components
• Fix components before sizing the tray

Rigid set-up box or tuck-end carton?

A small card game can live in a tuck-end carton. A game with a board and many pieces needs a rigid box.

A tuck-end carton is printed folding board, cheap to make and ships flat. It suits a single deck of cards or a small filler game where the box is light and is not opened and stacked for years.

A rigid set-up box costs more and takes more space in transit because it travels made up, but it survives repeated play, holds a heavy board without sagging and stacks on a shelf. For anything sold as a full board game, players expect the rigid box and judge the game partly by it.

Printing the lid and sides

The wrap paper is printed flat and folded round the edges, so the art needs extra room to turn in.

Artwork for a wrapped box extends past the visible faces, round the edges and into the inside of the lid, so we add a turn-in allowance on every side of the dieline. Keep text and key details away from the edges, where the paper bends and can shift slightly.

Games are stored stacked, so the long side of the lid often shows more than the top. Putting the title, player count and play time on the sides helps on a shop shelf and at home. A linen-textured or matt laminated paper resists scuffs from being slid in and out of a pile, which is why it is common on games.

• Allow for the turn-in round each edge
• Title and player count on the lid sides
• Textured or matt finishes hide scuffs

Game box alone or inside a mailer?

A rigid game box is the right pick for the shop shelf and the games cupboard. A mailer around it is the right pick for the trip to a player's door.

The corners of a wrapped box dent and the wrap scuffs if it travels bare, so games sent by post need an outer mailer box or shipper sized closely to the game. A snug fit stops the game box sliding about and knocking its corners inside the outer.

Games for young children often carry age warnings or safety marks, so we leave room for the information your game must carry and lay it out on the proof. The packaging itself should avoid small loose parts that could come away.