Letting a stranger pick your next board game might be considered a weird thing to sign up for. Because some of us might not let a houseguest pick even something as trivial as the next movie to watch.
And the stakes are higher. A wrong pick doesn’t just cost about $35. It also uses up a whole game night.
So before you hand the job to a game subscription box, you should probably know who’s doing it and how.
The UnboxBoardom team hand-picks every game in the lineup. Each one is a full-size game, rated 8 and up on average, and the lineup rotates so you don’t get the same style twice in a row. Each month you choose from 3 games, or you can let the team pick for you.
Why does it matter who picks the games in your subscription box?
Because the game is the whole product. If it’s wrong for your group, you lose a night as well as the money.
McKinsey’s survey of more than 5,000 US consumers, published in February 2018, lists poor product quality, dissatisfaction with the assortment and a lack of perceived value as reasons people cancel subscriptions. In a board game subscription box, all 3 really come down to the same thing: the game you open.
Too many choices is its own problem. In a famous grocery store experiment, shoppers who could taste 24 jams almost never bought one.
Shoppers who could taste 6 bought about 10 times as often. The stakes were a $1 coupon.
Fair warning: that study has been argued over for years. A 2010 review of the research found the average effect across studies was about zero, with big swings from one situation to the next.
So “6 beats 24” is a hunch, not a law, and anyone who has walked out of a game store empty-handed already gets it.
Here, the UnboxBoardom team picks the games by hand, and you pick from what the team picks.
What makes a game worth putting in the box?
First and foremost, it has to be a good game: fun, and playable by a lot of different people. After that, the UnboxBoardom team looks at 3 things:
How complex the game is (light to medium),
How long it takes (usually 20 to 60 minutes),
And the price (the average retail value is around $35).
Games can cost anywhere from $5 to $500, so we stick close to our own price. Last, the game has to be available in the market for us to be able to include in our boxes!
“Weight” is the hobby word for how complicated a game is. Our selection emails tell you how complex each game is before you choose, so you’re not guessing from just looking at the box.
The team also keeps a running list of well-received past games and new releases, and goes through it for each month’s options. Plenty of well-rated games still don’t make the list. There are far more great games than boxes, and some are too pricey, too long or too complicated for a general audience.
Past that, the 3 details worth checking on any of our subscription box games are player count, play time and age. Box art won’t tell you any of that.
Here are 3 games from our shop, with the numbers from their product pages as of October 2026:
| Game | Player count | Play time | Ages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tangram City | 1 to 5 | 10 to 40 minutes | 8+ |
| Floriferous | 1 to 4 | 20 to 30 minutes | 14+ |
| Pack the Essentials | 1 to 4 | 20 to 30 minutes | 12+ |
Tangram City is designed by Uwe Rosenberg, a well-known name in board games, and can be played in 10 minutes or stretched to 40. Floriferous is about walking through a garden collecting flowers, and it’s rated 14+. Pack the Essentials can be completed in 20 minutes with 1 person at the table.
How do you balance player count so every box works for your table?
Check the player count before you pick. Some games in our boxes play solo, most work great at 2 players, but not all of them do. Party games, for example, usually aren’t much fun with just 2. That’s not much of a party, is it!?
The team also checks each month’s 3 options together, so they differ in player count as well as style.
If your usual table is 6 or 8 people, read the player count from the top of the range, not the bottom. A game that says 2 to 5 is not a suggestion.
If your usual table is just 2, our board games for couples page lists the ones that work best for exactly 2.
How do you keep the games from repeating?
No game repeats within 12 months. The team keeps a list of every game it has ever featured, and it looks at each month’s 3 options together to make sure they differ in type, player count and difficulty.
How often a new game arrives depends on your plan: over a course of a year, monthly is 12 games, bi-monthly is 6, and quarterly is 4. On the monthly plan, that’s a new board game every month, and every game you get is yours to keep.
In September 2026, the 3 options were Machi Koro 2, Butterfly Garden and Shelfie Stacker.
Machi Koro 2 is a city builder for 2 to 5 players and takes about 45 minutes. Butterfly Garden is Reiner Knizia’s game of laying path tiles to guide butterflies to your flowerbeds, for 2 to 4 players, about 30 minutes. Shelfie Stacker is a dice game for 1 to 4, about 40 minutes.
3 games, 3 different types of nights.
Earlier months, listed on our Selecting Games page, have included Cascadia, Calico, Pandemic, King of Tokyo, Tiny Towns and Sheriff of Nottingham. That list isn’t 6 versions of the same game.
What is the difference between a standard box and a PREMIUM pick?
A Standard box is part of your subscription and costs $29.99 to $33.99 a box, depending on the plan. A PREMIUM pick is a bigger strategy game sold on its own for $49.99, and it isn’t part of the subscription. Right now that’s Kokopelli.
PREMIUM is about the price, not the age range. Kokopelli is rated 12+ by its publisher, is for 2 to 4 players and runs 20 to 40 minutes. Kokopelli’s product page calls it one of the deeper strategy games in the lineup despite the short playtime.
You can buy Kokopelli on its own anytime, but a PREMIUM game can’t be swapped in for a normal box. Shipping is a flat $6 a box to the continental US on either one, added at checkout.
How do you choose from the games we offer?
The 3 options are locked in a couple of weeks before the month starts, once the team has narrowed down the selections and knows the warehouse has enough stock.
If you pick your own, an email arrives on the 1st of the month with those 3 games and a short description of each. You have 5 days to choose one. If you forget, we’ll send the game we think you’ll like best.
Prefer to skip the emails? Pick “Trust the Experts” when you sign up, and the team chooses for you every time. It’s great for gift-givers.
On a gift subscription, the person who receives it does the picking, not the person who bought it. If you’d rather pick specific games for them, just say so in the Gift Message box at checkout.
Just like in the grocery store, if 24 jams was too many, 3 games is a number you can actually choose from. A game subscription box puts exactly that in your inbox each month. Start a subscription, or send one as a gift and let the person on the other end do the picking.
Frequently asked questions
How does UnboxBoardom choose the games in its board game subscription box?
First, it has to be a good game: fun, and playable by a lot of different people. Then the UnboxBoardom team looks at difficulty (light to medium), length (usually 20 to 60 minutes) and price (around $35). Each month’s 3 options are reviewed together so they differ in type, player count and difficulty.
Can I pick my own game each month?
Yes. If you choose to pick, an email on the 1st of the month shows 3 games with descriptions, and you have 5 days to choose one. If you forget, UnboxBoardom sends the game the team thinks you’ll like best. Prefer to be surprised? Pick “Trust the Experts” when you sign up.
Why isn’t a popular, well-rated game in the box?
There are far more great games than boxes. Games range from $5 to $500, and UnboxBoardom stays near $35. The team also looks for games that suit a general audience, are light to medium in difficulty, play in under 1 hour, and are available in the market for the team to include in its boxes.
What is the player count for the games?
It depends on the game, and the number is on every product page or game selection email. Tangram City plays 1 to 5, Floriferous and Pack the Essentials play 1 to 4, and Machi Koro 2 plays 2 to 5. Most games work great at 2 players, but not all of them. Party games usually need more.
How long do the games take, and how complex are they?
Most games take 20 to 60 minutes and fall in the light to medium range. Tangram City takes 10 to 40 minutes, Floriferous and Pack the Essentials 20 to 30, and Machi Koro 2 about 45. Selection emails say how complex each game is, so you can check before you choose.
Will I get the same game or style twice?
No game repeats within 12 months, and the lineup rotates so you aren’t getting the same style twice in a row. The team keeps a list of every game it has ever featured. In September 2026 the 3 options were Machi Koro 2, Butterfly Garden and Shelfie Stacker. Every game you receive is yours to keep. If you ever receive a game selection email and none of the games interest you, as long as you let us know before the selection deadline each month, we are happy to push your subscription back a month. We never want you to receive a game you’re not excited about getting!
Are PREMIUM games part of the subscription?
No. PREMIUM games are bigger strategy titles sold on their own, and Kokopelli is the current one at $49.99 plus a flat $6 shipping. PREMIUM is about price, not age, and Kokopelli is rated 12+. A PREMIUM game can’t be swapped in for a normal box, which runs $29.99 to $33.99 depending on the plan.
Why did Phil Jacobs start UnboxBoardom?
Because the gift his wife went looking for, a board-game-of-the-month subscription, didn’t exist. So, Phil (the owner) built it himself, and more than 50,000 boxes have been shipped since. The UnboxBoardom team also hand-picks every game on the list for fun and quality, while subscribers get to choose from a shortlist of 3 each month or let the team pick for them.
More questions about shipping, billing or gifts? The UnboxBoardom FAQ covers them.
