Board game boxes come in several different shapes and sizes. Because board games vary in size, weight and total number of pieces, there’s no one-size-fits-all board game dimensions for every game. 

Instead, it’s important to consider three things when you’re comparing different box types and sizes for your board game: the contents of the game box, your game’s target retail price, and the manufacturing cost for each type of box.

1. The Contents of the Box

The first thing you should consider is the contents of the box — namely, the specific components and pieces you want to include in your game, as well as the layout that you want to use to store them inside the box.

Board game box pricing increases with the dimensions of the box, meaning it’s uneconomical to choose a large box for a game with few pieces. Most industry leaders recommend against using a big box for a game with few components. 

This isn’t just because of the cost of a large box — it’s also because of the psychological effect of a customer opening a big box to see wasted space. Some customers will feel cheated after they open up a large box and some may feel uncomfortable by the wasted space. 

As customers might feel cheated, they may end up throwing the box away and storing the board game components separately to save space.

2. The Retail Price of Your Board Game

The second thing to consider is the retail price of your game. In the US, there are three general price brackets for board games with boxes: under $25, under $35, and under $55. There’s also a smaller fourth category for massive hobbyist games priced at $60 and above.

The price of your game is affected, to a significant extent, by the size of your box.

Typically, games in large boxes sell around the $55 range, medium for approximately $35, and small for under $25. To some extent, the size of the box you choose can have a psychological impact on its perceived value by the customer (provided it actually needs the extra size). 

If you need a larger box size, upsizing is worth considering. However, remember that choosing a larger box but keeping it mostly empty is often a counterproductive decision that can affect your perceived value to customers in a negative way.

3. Your Manufacturing Costs

Choosing a larger game box can have two major negative effects on the costs of manufacturing your game. 

First, a large box will cost more to produce than a smaller box. In manufacturing, there are three major sizes to consider: small, medium and large boxes. Each of these encompassing sizes fits onto a different printing paper.

The bigger your boxes, the more and higher quality material you need, and the more expensive it will be to produce. 

Second, larger boxes can have a significant impact on the total cost of shipping your game from China to your target country. Because large boxes require  more space, you can expect to pay a greater amount per unit shipped.

When you’re shipping thousands or tens of thousands of copies of your board game, even a tiny increase in box size can have a large, noticeable impact on your shipping prices.