How to Pack Board Games for a Move

The full-service movers who provide professional packing services at All My Sons Moving & Storage offer advice on how to pack everything you own, including your collection of board games. Whether you just keep a couple of classics like Hasbro’s Monopoly or you have an extensive hoard of everything from Settlers of Catan to Twilight Imperium, you can follow this 5-step guide for packing up your tabletop games for your move.

Board games often contain a multitude of small components like meeples, tokens, cards, and dice. You would hate to see any pieces lost or damaged during your move. Instead of shoving all the board games into a medium box and letting them loose on your moving truck, why not pack your collection with care?

Ready the plastic baggies and the rubber bands, it’s time to get your board games safely to your destination.

Inspect the wear and tear on your boxes, boards, and map tiles. Check each game for a rulebook and an inventory of components. Count up tokens, figurines, cards, and meeples to check them against the inventory.

If any of your games are missing crucial components, look to see if the manufacturer offers replacements or if you can locate replacements on eBay or Game Crafter. 

Damaged game boxes are likely to break open on the journey to your new home. If you have a beloved game in a damaged box, see if you can transfer the contents to a new box. You can purchase blank game boxes from Board Games Maker and specialty board game organizers and containers from retailers like Etsy or Amazon.

The fastest way to save time, money, and energy on your next move is to be honest about what actually fits in your life and what you will love and use at your next home. Moving is the perfect time to declutter, and All My Sons Moving & Storage recommends you evaluate everything, including the board games. Think critically about how often you play each game and how much you enjoy playing the game when it comes out.

Then sort your board games into the following four categories.

• Sell: Board games in great condition and high demand might be able to score a few bucks for your moving budget. You can try selling them on a site like OfferUp, Mercari, or Facebook Marketplace. Half Price Books buys board games for cash in 19 states. You can also check your local neighborhood for hobby and game shops that offer cash for games or sell games for you on consignment.

• Donate: Board games in great condition can be donated to local charities and social service organizations. The nationwide charities Goodwill and The Salvation Army both accept board games to sell in their thrift stores. Board Games for the Better accepts used board game donations to help underserved communities through the mail. You can also ask around your community at nursing homes, libraries, day cares, and homeless shelters to see if any local organizations near you need board games.

• Discard: Games that are not in good condition or are missing crucial components should be discarded. If you are interested in recycling your used games in poor condition, check your manufacturer. Hasbro, Spin Master, and Warhammer all partner with Terracycle to collect and recycle used games and game pieces. 

• Keep: This is the pile of games coming with you. Make sure the meeples are all in place and the cards are all accounted for.

After sorting, you can make your donation run, sell off your cast-aways, and proceed to packing the games that are making the journey.

Now is a great time to organize your game component inside each box. Use sealable plastic bags to collect loose tokens and figures. Put rubber bands around stacks of cards that must be kept together. When you are moving, pieces are less likely to shift around the box when they are safely inside plastic bags. 

Gather some packing supplies like bubble wrap, packing peanuts, or packing paper and use it to fill any extra space inside your game boxes. This cuts down on movement inside the box which will reduce the likelihood of figures or tokens getting damaged during transit.

Once your game boxes are organized and packed well, get a couple of small to medium moving boxes. You can help protect game boxes by putting a layer of bubble wrap at the bottom of your moving box. Then, group games by similar box size and shape. Carefully put game boxes inside your moving boxes. Once you have packed as many games as can comfortably fit, check the weight of your box. The box should be fairly easy to lift. If it is too heavy, remove some of the heavier games. Overloaded boxes are a recipe for damaged items and injured movers, so always check the weight of your boxes to ensure they can be lifted.

If there is leftover empty space in your moving box, fill it with packing material like bubble wrap or packing paper. Alternatively, you can fill it with some of your soft and light household items like kitchen towels and hot pads, bathroom towels, or blankets and linens.

Seal your moving boxes with tape and use a black permanent marker to label the box as containing board games. In lieu of a full moving inventory, you should aim to label your moving boxes with as much detail as possible. 

Your board games might have to wait until the essentials are unpacked before you can get them out and arrange them on your board game shelves.

All your treasured tabletop games have made it to your new home. It’s time to celebrate with a round of Pandemic or Spirit Island. Assemble the meeples and deal the cards. Happy gaming at your new home!

Will your family be moving local or long-distance? All My Sons Moving & Storage has been in the business of full-service moving for over 30 years and we would be honored to handle the packing, loading, and heavy lifting for your next move. Use the quote button below to get started.