A while ago I wrote an article about making your own print and play games. You can read that one here: LINK Writing that inspired me to print and assemble a bunch of new games and I needed somewhere to store them while also seeing what I have. So I made a design for a boardgame box for my PnP games that can be printed on a sturdy piece of paper and assembled without glue. I also designed a cover to put on the box. In this article I will show the design, the box and the assembly process.
What it looks like
When assembled the box can hold a stack of standard sized or slightly bigger cards (including sleeves) and any extra components you might need, like tokens or dice. The lid opens on top for easy access to the components and cards. You don’t need any glue but you can always add some for extra durability.
How to make the boardgame box
Step 1: The first step is to print out the template on a piece of paper. You can download my template here: LINK. Of course you can also draw your own template for different measurements (if you want the box to be smaller for example). I use 180grams A4 paper and the boxes are pretty solid and hold together well.
Step 2: Now you cut out the box. All the parts with an X on them are cut off. You also make two slits in the box where it will fold into itself.
Step 3: The next step is to fold all parts of the box. Be sure to make good and accurate folds otherwise the box might not assemble very well. I always make all of the folds first and then assemble afterwards. This ensures that all the folds are nice and clean.
Step 4: Assemble the box. Assembly is pretty straightforward. For the main part of the box you fold the short sides inwards and then fold the long sides over this, tucking them into the slits you created earlier.
Your boardgame box is now assembled and ready for use!
What I do after this is add a cover to the box with the game art or logo (depending on what I can find online) so I can easily recognize the games once stacked on my shelves. For this is simply use a template in Microsoft Word where I can add the art or logo. I print this out on normal paper and glue it onto the game box.
