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Is finding enough storage space for your games a challenge? With kids who cover a large age range, we have an enormous amount of games, which is why I needed to get a bit creative in how I store them. First, I looked for game storage ideas, but I didn’t really find any. So, I knew I was on my own to figure out a system that worked for our family. I tried all kinds of different things, but nothing seemed to work. Not only were we running out of room to store our games in the traditional way, but there were additional issues when it came to game storage.

For instance, when a younger kid wanted a game that was on the bottom of a pile of game boxes, they would often just pull it out, sending all the games on top tumbling into a mess.

Another problem was if a random game piece was found, no one wanted to get the right box out of the stack of games and put it away. So, the game piece would sit around for what seemed like forever, or the game piece would sit near the games and eventually get lost.

In fact, lost game pieces were a constant problem when storing our games in the traditional way.

So, I set out to find a better game storage system with these things in mind.

Problems I needed the game organization to solve:

• The system needed to take up less space
• Any system needed to make it easy to get to all games
• The system needed to get the games up out of reach of my small kids
• There needed to be an easy way to deal with stray pieces
• The system needed to be something that my kids of all ages could use
• I wanted to be able to quickly & easily have games cleaned up
• The kids need to easily be able to see all their games and choose what they want

The system I found was a bit daring, but it was totally worth it. I had never really realized it before, but there is SO much wasted space with the way that games are traditionally packaged. There is often a lot of wasted packaging as well. Once I really looked at the way games are packaged, I realized I could solve many of the issues I was having by eliminating the packaging.

And so…

This game organization system truly is the best game storage solution ever!

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With several of our games, there were only a few pieces, a thin game board, and a little page of instructions. A huge box to keep all of this in is simply unnecessary.

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Previously, we kept our game boxes stacked with five or so on top of one another. This meant that when someone found a stray game piece that went inside one of the boxes near the bottom, the pieces never actually got put into the boxes since doing so would require too much effort.  Maybe it’s just my kids who take the laziest approach to things at times. However, I am guessing not.

I knew eliminating the boxes was key, but getting rid of all the boxes??? This was a bit scary to me for awhile. I needed to just ponder that while seeing if I could come up with a different solution that was much less drastic. After some time passed, this was still the best solution that I came up with, so, I jumped in with both feet.

Like me, it might feel a bit scary to think about getting rid of the boxes. But I can honestly say, it was so freeing, too. It has been several years now that we have been using this game organization, and I have never once wished that I had kept all the boxes.

Here’s where you need to start.

First, I bought some a ton of these three drawer storage containers, the smaller sized ones like these…and they were PERFECT.

Then, I just started without looking back.

Here are the steps to follow for the best game storage system ever!

Game organization step #1: Get rid of the game boxes

First, put all game contents into the drawers and destroy the boxes. It really will be ok.

Please note.

If there are instructions on the boxes that you will need, cut those off to put with your instructions. Other than that, the boxes were history. So, before destroying the boxes be sure to look at what’s actually written on the box to make sure you’re not getting rid of information you actually need.

In some cases, you may need more than one drawer to keep everything in.

Game organization step #2: Label all the drawers

Be sure to label your drawers. We have since put all of our drawers in alphabetical order so finding the game we want is even easier.

I used simple labels like these HERE and they work great!

 

Game organization step #3: Fill the drawers with game pieces & parts

All of the game pieces, cards, dice, or other components go into the drawers. If there are pieces that don’t fit in the drawers, you may need a different type of container. You may also choose to just keep those games that don’t fit into this game organization system in their original packaging.

We do this with certain games like Jenga, Mindtrap, Outburst, and Mad Gab. These games just don’t have a way of fitting

Game organization step #4: Next come all the game boards

All the boards will also need to be labeled. I use the same labels HERE. We store many of our game boards in these bins HERE. Some of the  boards will be too big, and over the years we’ve dome a few different things with the boards that don’t fit.

We’ve stored them in a magazine file like this HERE. And, we’ve just had these oversized game boards laying on a shelf, too. I don’t think one solution is necessarily better than another here, it really just comes down to preference and the amount and type of space you have available. If you don’t have much space, you’ll likely need to use the magazine file to take advantage of vertical storage space.

Game organization step #5: Next come the game directions

You have a few different options to file the game directions.

You can use some simple folders like these HERE

Another way to organize your game directions is to use the same scrapbook paper box shown above. You could also keep them in 3 ring binder, even using plastic sleeves if you wish.

I prefer putting them all in a nice looking magazine file box like this one HERE. 

The key in deciding how to manage your game directions lies in determining how much room you have to store them and what will make them easiest to use in your family.

Game organization step #6: Store everything together

I store the game boards right next to the game file boxes. Then, the directions box goes nearby as well. Storing everything all together means it will be the easiest way to get everything you need to play a game, and that it will also be as easy as possible to put everything away.

Oh. My.

Why did I wait so long to do this?

I have never regretted this solution, and it has worked out even better than I could have ever hoped. This system takes up less space, is less cluttered looking, and makes putting random game pieces away a breeze.

If you need more space, don’t take as long as I did to ponder this system. Just do it.

Trust me, you will not be sorry. This is the best storage system for games you will ever find!

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