Updated:Jul 9, 2026
Board games
Board game hobbyists don’t really need any help buying copies of games that they never actually play – but Brotherwise Games has found a way to make it even easier. ‘Shelfy’ is its upcoming range of scaled-down model board game boxes, created in partnership with 20 different games publishers, which it plans to sell as collectibles in blind bags. The line will launch at Gen Con with a starter set containing a six-inch tall game shelf for you to display the wee boxes on, inbetween all your Funko Pops, Gundams, executive toys, Labubus, pictures of your loved ones, and Warhammer.
I jest, but only to try and prevent myself from falling for this, hard. I am so easily won over by tiny models that I’ve made it both my entire personality and then career – I almost bought a scale Juicero from MSCHF’s ‘Dead Startup Toys’ collection, god help me. It’s all that I can do not to lose myself in daydreams of rearranging my board game collection to make room for a tiny scale model of my board game collection
Season One of Shelfy will debut with 28 board games from publishers including Cephalofair, Van Ryder, AEG, and Restoration Games. Some of the best board games on the market are already confirmed, including teensy versions of Gloomhaven and Cascadia. According to the info on Brotherwise Games’ website, four of these are chase rares with alternative holo-foil covers. A Pokémon TCG-style feeding frenzy over this thing at Gen Con strikes me as eminently possible
Does it show that I’m conflicted? I could ruminate on conspicuous consumption, booster packs encouraging problematic spending, the ecological impacts of collectibles ultimately destined for landfill, or the feeling that the way collectibles are being treated as investment vehicles is a sign that the Western economy is rotting on its feet
But then, these are cute little versions of things that I like, and they’re made of wood, which – paint notwithstanding – is way better ecologically than if they were made from plastic. And obsessively collecting tiny model board games is probably healthier than obsessively collecting actual board games, surely?
What do you think? Are you hardened against their allure, or is there one of these tiny boxes you’d really like to get hold of (between finger and thumb, or using tweezers)? Let us know by joining the conversation in the official Wargamer Discord community!
