Board games are brilliant, but they take up a lot of space. You only need to have four or five before they take up another shelf on your bookcase, and they don’t exactly fit in with your reading materials. That’s why it’s a good idea to get editions of board games that look like books.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a massive board game box. When the designers really go for it and create something stunning for the artwork on your board games, you want to show it off. Bookshelves aren’t exactly the space to do this, though, considering they’re made for, well, books. But you can have the best of both worlds with board games and editions that are designed to look like books. While the intention isn’t always to fit in with a massive library, I think these editions look fantastic in their own way. There’s also just something so inviting and mysterious about a false book that makes the board game feel unique.
The Best board game editions that look like books
Below, I’ve listed the best board game editions that look like books. They’re ranked by how good each edition looks. So, while you’ve likely heard of most of them, these are editions you may never have seen.
15. Bureau of Investigation: Investigations in Arkham & Elsewhere
Bureau of Investigations: Investigations in Arkham & Elsewhere is a cooperative mystery game for families and friends. It’s set in the Cthulu mythos and takes you to multiple locations in the 1920s. Players are investigators who must work together to question the events around them and uncover the mysteries and threats from another plane that must be uncovered and stopped.
The board game’s box itself is still a box, but it’s designed to look like a book from the front and side. You could put it on your bookshelf and it would fit right in. The dark grey background, lighter writing, and the name and manufacturer placement all help it blend in among your tomes.
14. Choose Your Own Adventure: War with The Evil Power Master
Choose Your Own Adventure: War with The Evil Power Master looks like an old sci-fi book. The kind that had what in the 70s and 80s was a hyper-modern cover with a striking piece of artwork on a white background and glossy paper. All of this helped these books stand out back then, and they really set the tone for the aesthetic that this board game’s box follows.
This board game follows the classic choose your own adventure genre of books. You pick a character and starter item, then travel the galaxy and make decisions that further the story. It’s really tactile and fits the vibe that the box gives off. The writing is probably the highlight in this game because it brings the story to life, just as the books it’s inspired by do.
13. Hasbro Risk in Vintage Wood Book Edition
Risk has been around for a while, and there are loads of different editions of it. I love the classic one myself, but Hasbro has also made a vintage wood box edition that would fit nicely on any bookshelf. I look at it and imagine those incredibly rare or limited editions that come in boxes of their own and usually open the same way.
Risk is a fantastic game. In it, you play on a world map and fight for supremacy with every battle unit you have until you’ve conquered the world. Games can run on for days, which is why so many love it. I’ve had games that have run the span of weeks because I could only meet up to play once per week, but it was so worth it when we got to the end. Even though I lost.
12. Dice Throne Season 2 – Battle Chest
Dice Throne is a fast-paced card game using dice to help you build up your characters and duke it out with up to five other players. Each hero is unique and distinct from one another, so you never know how a game is going to go. You roll dice to use their abilities, some of which provide permanent buffs, and must quickly but tactfully figure out how to beat every opponent.
The Dice Throne Season 2 Battle Box is a mad edition that looks like one of those old Bibles. It’s massive, with two sides appearing to be the book covers and every other side looking like mock pages. It’s not the most convincing board game edition that looks like a book in the world, but it’s unique and would stand out in a good way on your shelf.
11. War of the Three Kingdoms
War of the Three Kingdoms is a game built to bring the stories of the Three Kingdoms era to life. Each player takes on the role of a Warlord and must battle but also connive their way to success. You won’t win without forming a few shaky alliances and betraying your friends once their usefulness has run out. Gameplay revolves around cards, so the game stays small, and rounds last between 20 and 40 minutes each. Nice and easy.
The board game’s box is really interesting to me. It looks like a special edition book from the side, with artwork and only one word. I’ve got more than a few premium books that would fit right alongside without anyone batting an eyelid. I absolutely love the box’s frontage, though, which makes it look like an incredibly rare edition.
10. WS Game Company Collection of 15 Vintage Bookshelf Board Games
The WS Game Company Collection of 15 Vintage Bookshelf Board Games is not cheap, but this is the collection to buy if you want all the classics on your bookshelf.
Included in these editions are copies of Scrabble, Monopoly, Clue, Boggle, Yahtzee, Catch Phrase, Scattergories, Chess, Sorry!, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Mystery Date, The Game of Life, Taboo, Connect Four, and Bring Your Own Book. Most people have played at least one of these, if not more, which is why it’s a great collection to pick up if you just want to dedicate an entire shelf to board games but hide them away by making them look like they’re more books on yet another bookshelf in your house.
9. Return to Ravingspire
Return to Ravingspire is a cooperative board game in which players go on quests together and use dice to battle their enemies. Players explore a tower built upon the remains of a spaceship from the far future, meaning portals can open into other realms where the tower exists, and strange powers and abilities can be gained by exploring them.
The box for the game is just as much at odds with the idea of exploring an ever-shifting tower built on the remains of an advanced spaceship. It looks just like an old, tattered book and wouldn’t be out of place with a few cheap titles from a second-hand bookshop.
8. Dr. Finn’s Games Biblios – Quill and Parchment
In Dr. Finn’s Games Biblios – Quill and Parchment, players follow the life of a monastic scribe. Gameplay is, as you might imagine, built around copying out words from the Bible to produce more. This version is actually a bit lighter. You draw directly on the boards and wipe them clean when you’re done. The box for this board game very deliberately resembles a book. It’ll easily fit in on any bookshelf and could be stacked up with coffee table books and hide in plain sight for when you need it.
7. Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook
Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop RPG board game that you make mostly out of a core set of rules and your imagination. This board game edition literally is a book, and I’ve always found that it’s one people like to spot on your shelf. If it’s out on display, people know you’re into D&D and feel comfortable talking about it, asking if you can play together, and may even result in a one-shot if you’ve got any good ideas for one.
6. Robinson Crusoe: Book of Adventures
The Robinson Crusoe: Book of Adventures is another board game in this list that is an actual book, filled with scenarios to play out. You can also add variations to those scenarios to expand upon the gameplay. I love that this could just sit with your notebooks in any room so you can pull out a full and very deep board game at any point in time.
5. Jumpin, Oh-Wah-Ree, & Facts Vintage Board Games
Jumpin, Oh-Wah-Ree, & Facts Vintage Board Games is another collection of board games, but these ones have been made to look much older. This is a great set to put on your shelf that will fit with any sort of books you’ve got. I would have it alongside other volumes from the time that aren’t too pricey from second-hand bookstores.
4. Hocus Pocus The Game
Hocus Pocus The Game follows the plot of the movie, tasking players with working together to protect the children of Salem from three sisters who have risen from the dead and want to drink their youthful souls. The game consists of ingredient cards, trick tokens, and spells, meaning you can replay it over and over with a different route to winning each time.
Unfortunately, the game’s box does not look like the human skin-bound book of spells we see in the movies. But it does look like a book. It’s fun and pretty well-shaped so it would fool more than a few people if they didn’t look too closely at its perfect edge on your bookcase.
3. Salem 1692
In Salem 1692, you seek out witches in an intriguing social deduction game that uses cards to help you uncover the truth where you might not see it. You can throw wild accusations at the other villagers but be prepared to defend yourself somehow when the time comes.
The game is beautifully presented in a faux book box with a magnetic lid. This is one of the most perfect board game boxes that looks like a book in this list. You could leave it on a shelf, and no one would know until you opened it that you were actually carrying a board game.
2. Bristol 1350
In Bristol 1350, you’re fighting for survival in a Black Death-infected Bristol. To win, you must reach the first cart out of the city, but other players could stop or infect you by hiding their true state. You can play solo or with others, and every round makes for a furious dash that’s short and enjoyable. Regardless of whether you’re infecting others or just trying to survive, you’re going to have fun.
The box for this game is just as good as Salem 1962‘s. It’s got a magnetic lid to keep all the pieces inside, and the shape of the box allows it to fit in perfectly wherever you put it. This is a board game you can keep out indefinitely and open up to play when you feel like it.
1. Tortuga 1667
Tortuga 1667 pits you against a bunch of filthy pirates. You must hide who you are and survive a night in Tortuga, but to do so, you need to deceive, form loyalties with other players, and do whatever you can to keep unwanted eyes from settling on you as the one person who is out of place.
The box for this game is the best faux book I’ve ever seen for a board game. It looks like a proper leather-bound text and even comes with a rulebook that looks like it’s written on aged parchment. Everything about this board game has been well thought out and fits its theme so nicely that I’d expect to be able to read a story if I picked it up.
Published: Sep 14, 2024 10:00 am