Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’re in the middle of the Christmas season. There aren’t that many days until the holiday, so I decided to go with another purchasing guide: stocking stuffer board games. But I don’t want to just do individual games. No, no. Let’s discuss board game companies known for producing good games that can fit inside a stocking.

We’ll have to set some ground rules.

1) The packing must be small enough to fit in at least 50% of stockings.

2) The games must be good. While smaller packaging can lead to compromises, who wants to play a bad game?

3) Extra points for companies that produce various games. It’s easy to find a formula and produce multiple versions of the same game, but I’m handing out brownie points to any company capable of stretching their creative muscles.

With all that out of the way, let’s get to the games, or the board game companies.

5: The Game Crafter (Mint Tin Games)

On the Game Crafter, aspiring game designers can buy board game components for their prototypes. But it also functions as a store for indie board game designers to sell their games. The Game Crafter is a great place to support smaller game companies and indie board game designers directly. We’ll be covering their Mint Tin Games line. These games fit inside a mint tin. Perfect for a stocking.

Price: Varies between $20-$35. Board game designers set their own prices, so mint tin games vary wildly.

Quality: It’s a mixed bag. That’s why Mint Tin Games are fifth on this list. But there is a silver lining. The Game Crafter gives their stamp of approval to any game they view as worth your time.

Variety: Tons! Mint Tin Games are the Wild, Wild West of board games. Think of it as the board game equivalent of the indie video games on Steam. You’ll find games here that you can’t find anywhere else.

Size: 4-inch by 2 1/2-inch mint tins. You can fit these tins into any stocking. I’m surprised by the amount of games you can find that fit inside this packing.

Titles: Again, I’d look at anything that gets the Game Crafter seal, but here are some standouts. I’ve found a ton of excellent solo games. Doom Machine is fantastic. Mint Knight is a fan favorite and a sandbox RPG. What? Astro Asterid’s Quick Shuttle Repair is a fast-paced resource management game. And Deck 52: Space Wrecked is a fun dungeon crawl.

Store Link: (https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games?query=mint&hitsPerPage=18) The Game Crafter (Mint Tin Games).

4: Pack O Game

We had a game series in a mint tin. Pack O Game fits inside a box of chewing gum. How do make a game fit in that tight of a space?

Price: $7 each. By far the cheapest set of games on this list. You can’t beat $7 for a game.

You can also buy a bundle for $50, but that includes 8 games and a pod that can hold all the games from a set, and there are three sets. Even though the pod can hold all the games in a set, it’s still small enough to fit into any stocking.

Quality: Most of the games in this line are good. There can be some duds, but for $7, you can buy a few. And the stellar titles can be fantastic.

Variety: These games use cards shaped like sticks of chewing gum. Despite that, there are plenty of game mechanisms represented in this line.

Size: Don’t worry about it. These are tiny games. These game boxes measure around 5-inch by 1-inch. Crazy small!

Titles: I haven’t played much from the second and third sets, but I played plenty of the first one. Shh must be the best of the bunch; it’s a cooperative word game. Hue and Fly are also good, but I have a soft spot for TKO.

Store Link: Pack O Game by Perplext.

3: All Play Games (Small Box Line)

For the most part, All Play has two sizes of games. We’ll be discussing the smaller (square-shaped) games with this listing. But the larger boxed games are worth perusing as well.

Price: Under $20. Great value for the amount of game inside these small boxes. It’s also a great price for a stocking stuffer.

Quality: While not all the games of this line suit my tastes, the games in All Play’s small box line are baseline good. If something sounds interesting, it’s well worth the price tag.

Variety: All Play has some of the best gameplay variety on this list. You’ll find plenty of themes and gameplay mechanisms that are sure to meet your board game enthusiasts’ preferences.

Size: This is what makes All Play’s small box games third place. This line dominates all the other criteria, but size could be an issue. The small boxes measure 5-inch by 5-inch. That could fit in at least 50% of stockings. Maybe? If you have extra-large stockings, no problem. And who cares if the box protrudes from the stocking’s top?

Titles: I mentioned Chomp in our “Getting Starting with Tile-Laying Games” (you can check out that write-up here); Chomp is an excellent game. Sequoia is another great title. Ghosts of Christmas may be a good thematic game for the season. And I’ve heard great things about Mountain Goats.

Store Link: (https://www.allplay.com/board-games/) All Play Games. Look for the square-shaped game boxes.

2: Button Shy Games

Board game rockstar Elizabeth Hargrave (Wingspan) got her start with Button Shy Games’s Wallet Game line. To date, she has more than one game in the Wallet Game line. As the name suggests, these games fit inside a wallet, so they will definitely fit inside a stocking.

Price: $12 each. Another cheap option with some great games on offer.

Quality: Like All Play’s small box line, most games in Button Shy Games’s Wallet Game line are good. But there are some standouts.

Variety: Most, if not all, of the games in this line use 18-card decks. Each game does something different with its 18-cards but it can get repetitive if you pick up too many at once.

Size: The size of a slim wallet, roughly 5-inches by 3-inches. You won’t have an issue fitting any of these games into your stockings.

Titles: Hargrave’s first published game Tussie Mussie is not in stock before Christmas 2024, but you can pre-order the next printing set for an April 2025 release. But she does have another great game named Picky Pixie.  Mysticana uses a nice twist on rock-paper-scissors, and it has plenty of expansion should you enjoy the core gameplay. Sprawlopolis is a great city-building game. It’s sold out, but its stand-alone sequel Agropolis is available.

Store Link: Button Shy Games Wallet Games line

1: Oink Games

Oink Games have a lot of quirky little games in their line. They have plenty of games that come from East Asia.  More than a few of those will get a mention in the Titles section.

Price: Most are $23, but there are a few that can be a little higher or lower in price.

Quality: Another company that has baseline good games with some standouts.

Variety: Except for All Play’s small box line, Oink Games may have the most variety of any game company (or line) on this list.

Size: The boxes are about 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches. Bigger than most other lines on this list except All Play’s.

Titles: I covered Deep Sea Adventure some time ago with our “Getting Started with Pickup and Delivery Games” writeup (here’s a link); it’s a great title. Scout earned the 2022 Spiel Des Jahres; I may have to check out that one. A Fake Artist Goes to New York is a ton of fun; everyone draws a picture together, but one person (the fake artist) doesn’t know what the group is drawing.

Store Link: Oink Games

That concludes our list. There are a lot of games worth trying. There may even be some that I may have to purchase…as a gift. A gift that’s TOTALLY for someone else.

Did we get the list right? Let us know which companies you would add in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.