Some of our much-loved board games become tricky to organise once expansions start piling up. Loose cards, tiny components, and multiple boxes can quickly turn even a favourite game into a setup nightmare, not to mention a real shelf hog. Thankfully, some publishers have recognised this and released big box editions designed to solve these problems.
These aren’t just oversized boxes; the right big box keeps boards, cards, and components neatly organised, makes setup and teardown easier, and frees up valuable shelf space. Some even include extras that enhance gameplay, making them far more than just storage solutions.
Here, we’re sharing our favourite big box games for storage solutions, explaining why they work and how they can make your board games easier to play. Next time you see one pop up on Kickstarter or Zatu, you’ll know whether it’s worth adding to your collection.
Wingspan Nesting Box by Sophie Jones
Wingspan could be one of the best modern board games out there. It’s easy to teach, fun to play, and a perfect gateway game to tempt people away from Monopoly and into the far more exciting world of modern board gaming.
The only downside? With multiple expansions, Wingspan quickly becomes a shelf hog, and setup can feel like a chore. Enter the Nesting Box. Stonemaier Games designed this absolute beast of a box to bring everything together in one place. And while it’s big, it’s still far more manageable than juggling a pile of individual boxes.
At first glance the Nesting Box may feel a little pricey. After all, it doesn’t add any new gameplay elements. What you do get though is a beautifully made, three-tiered storage solution that keeps boards, cards, and components organised. It’s also designed with extra room for future expansions and accessories, including the neoprene playmats. Which means it’s not going to be outgrown anytime soon.
Stonemaier also included a few thoughtful extras: a spare birdhouse feeder, trays for the mountain of components, and stunning artwork inside and out. Despite the size and weight (don’t put it too high on your shelves unless you fancy a workout), it’s surprisingly portable. I can fit the whole series into one box and easily take it on an adventure in the car.
If you’re a Wingspan fan, the Nesting Box is a no-brainer. It doesn’t just look good, it makes the game more accessible and far less intimidating to set up.
BattleCON:Unleashed by Sean Franks
The BattleCON series comes from Lvl99 games and is a board game adaption of the fighting game genre. You’ll know one of the main aspects of those games is their colourful cast of characters, and each Battlecon box has followed this rule, but has never shared any characters between them. Meaning if you’ve picked up more than one box set you may have more characters than you know what to do with them. And that’s where BattleCON: Unleashed comes in, the big storage box solution.
This actually came with a few extra fighters on its own, adding to the melee, however the real genius is the box itself, or should I say boxes. You see the storage solution comes as two for one. So, for my collection of only a couple of base games, I can get away with just using one of the boxes. Now let’s get inside to where the magic happens! The box provides tuckboxes for each fighter, meaning you can keep all their parts together and easy to find, and you’ll also see it’s segmented, meaning the fighters can be stored in groups however you fancy, by game, by character difficulty level, or even by attack type. So yeah, this makes finding and grabbing your desired fighters a thing of ease, speeding up setup and pack-down while also enabling you to bring multiple games worth of content without having to pack multiple boxes … just one big one!
One final mention is that this box was released through Kickstarter only, so is difficult to come by in general retail, sometimes when you see these campaigns pop up you might have to get them before they’re gone!
Destinies Deluxe Storage Box by Thom Newton
A good big box storage solution should not only have space for everything a boardgame has to offer, but it should also aid in set up and tear down; helping you to maximise that fun and gaming time. When the subject came up in the blogger pit, there was one game that jumped out in my mind, and that is Destinies. Now, it has to be said that the individual boxes of destinies are no slouch, they are well thought out and easy to use. But the big box version is something majestic to be seen.
It houses every expansion for the game, as well as the upgraded tokens, but it keeps them all in their own separate drawers. Then, each of the minis gets their own numbered sticker to attach to the underside of the base, making tracking them and getting them all packed up so much simpler. There is also a brand new combined rule book which contains all the rules in one big book rather than several smaller ones. Honestly, this is how you do a big box. It saves me some room on my packed shelves, saves me time every time I play and thanks to all the nice art work on the sides, it looks good while doing it.
Carcassonne Big Box by Sam de Smith
I’m a bit of a sucker for a big box, and I’ve previously talked about the massive glory that is FIREFLY. But when it comes to a proper, satisfying big box, then you gotta go OG with Carcassonne.
Like many of us, Carcassonne was a gateway drug to “grown-up” boardgaming for me: I played it when it first came out after my older cousin, who lives in Weimar, brought it over from Germany, and we’ve had a couple of copies over the years (even my mum has a copy!). BUT what we were late to was the expansions! I have lost count of the number of times that I’ve regretted not buying those cute wee cubes of tiles and meeples over the years. And whilst the base game is fun, even with the River, the appeal waned somewhat for us as we discovered other “modern” games, and the expansions, whilst fun, felt a bit overwhelming – where to start?
Now, friends brought us back a copy of from Carcassonne itself – TOTAL game changer! and really got us keen to play with more. Luckily, the Tower itself *doesn’t* come in the Big Box (but can fold flat and fit inside), so we had the perfect excuse. Suddenly, the game felt fresh, exciting and interesting again, a real cut and thrust challenge! Make more use of the base game, without massively increasing game length? Add the Abbot or the Big Meeple. Like Cities and Roads? Cathedrals and Inns just adds a bit more nuance. Want to have a more engine building vibe to your game? Build bridges, farm sheep, even send post! More magic? Witches! Technology? Flying machines!
The big box adds tactical depth and enough to keep the game fresh and interesting for everyone, incorporating your group’s preferred mechanics as you see fit. Plus, it’s a really efficient organiser that can fit everything and more besides, with neatly labelled sections. Maybe we should get the Princess and the Dragon after all…
Dominion Big Box by Steve Conoboy
The Big Box version of Dominion – combining the base game with the Intrigue expansion – is one of the ultimate tests of how big a nerd you are.
There are 900 cards in this box. That’s right, nine hundred. They’re all sealed in packs, and the first joy you will experience is the unpeeling of that cellophane. Oh boy, is that a good time. Did you enjoy that? Well brace yourself, there is a place for each type of card in the box storage. Gold goes there, silver there, that one’s for bronze cards, then estates, provinces and duchys, then the merchants, moats, markets and my favourite, the witches, and more, and more. I loved every dull minute of opening and sorting. It felt like I was organising an entire world.
Savour it, because it’s a one time deal. After this, your cards will forever be in the correct slot, awaiting Dominion’s next return from shelf to table. I grant you, that array of neatly stored cards is a beautiful thing to behold, but every time I gaze upon it, I remember that first opening of the box and the long, drawn-out, glorious process of popping almost one thousand cards into their respective slots.
Lost Ruins of Arnak: Adventure Chest by Sophie Jones
With one big box already in my collection, I jumped at the chance when I saw this one advertised. I hadn’t managed to get Lost Ruins of Arnak to the table since buying the most recent expansion, The Missing Expedition. It introduced a campaign mode that sounded fantastic, but with all the components from the base game and expansions, plus the new leaders, setup became a real chore and a barrier to getting the new expansion to the table.
Hunting through plastic bags with no insert was stressful, and by the time I finally got everything laid out, the motivation to play had vanished, which was a shame because Arnak is such a brilliant game.
The Adventure Chest is more than just a storage box. It’s a solution to Arnak’s sprawling nature, streamlining setup by neatly organising characters, boards, and components. Instead of setup being an energy drain, everything is now easy to find and ready to go. That alone has made me excited to dive back into the game and properly enjoy the new content.
What makes this box stand out is that it doesn’t just condense three boxes into one tidy system, it also includes new content and new ways to play. You get black arrowheads, new guardians, new locations, and even extra boards, all beautifully illustrated and up to the same high production quality as the base game. It’s more than storage: it expands your experience.
The only drawback is that organising it for the first time can be fiddly. The guide is only a short online video, and you’ll find yourself pausing frequently to check where each piece goes. But once everything’s in place, getting the game to the table is an absolute dream.
The Adventure Chest isn’t essential, but if you love Arnak, it makes the game easier to play, adds exciting new content, and ensures everything is beautifully contained in one box. That makes it far more than just a storage solution.
Big boxes can sometimes feel like a marketing gimmick, and you might wonder if they’re really necessary. But when a game you love turns into a monster of expansions, cards and tiny components, a well-designed big box with the right inserts can save setup time, keep everything organised and free up shelf space. Which is useful if your collection has to compete with books or other household priorities.
If there is a series you love, a smart big box isn’t just a storage solution, it transforms a cluttered collection into a streamlined, ready-to-play experience and that’s worth every penny. Trust me, the Nesting Box may have been my first big box purchase, but it definitely won’t be my last.
About the author:
* Sophie is a gamer, blogger, podcaster, and book lover with a passion for solo narrative video games. When she’s not immersed in games or writing, she’s probably out hiking. Her favourite board games feature worker placement, nature themes, and smart tableau-building mechanics.
