Does Give My Books Network Take Board Games in Boston?

Yes. Give My Books Network collects board games, card games, jigsaw puzzles, and video games free from any Boston doorstep a Local Pick-Up Partner serves, packed in the same boxes as the books.

Games rarely leave a house on their own. They sit in the hall closet, on the top shelf above the coats, in the cabinet under the television. A West Roxbury family can accumulate two decades of them without anyone making a single decision about it.

What About a Puzzle With a Missing Piece?

A puzzle with a missing piece is still worth donating if the box says so. Tape a note to the lid, and a Local Pick-Up Partner will sort it accordingly rather than passing a frustration forward to the next family.

Complete is better, obviously. Nine times out of ten a puzzle has all its pieces and nobody has checked in years. If a game is missing its board, its rules, or the majority of its pieces, it has run out of road, and that is worth being honest about.

• Complete games — the ideal. Rules included if you still have them.
• Puzzles missing a piece or two — fine, if labeled on the box.
• Games with a torn box but all the pieces — welcome. Tape the corner.
• Games missing the board or most pieces — no second life available.

How Do I Pack Games and Puzzles for Pickup?

Tape the game boxes shut, stack them in a sturdy carton with the books, and set the carton at ground level by 8 AM. A Local Pick-Up Partner does not bring boxes and collects from the stoop or entryway.

1. Tape each game box closed so pieces stay where they belong.
2. Stack the heavier boxes at the bottom of the carton.
3. Mix games and puzzles in with books and DVDs. No sorting needed.
4. Set the carton out by 8 AM, somewhere dry and sheltered.
5. Put a bag over the cardboard if there is snow in the forecast.

Why February Fills Boston Closets With Games

February is the month Boston households finally look at the game closet, because a long stretch indoors makes it obvious what actually gets played and what has not been opened since 2011.

Snow days do the same work. A house full of restless kids empties the closet in an afternoon, and the truth comes out: two games get played, eleven do not. Those eleven are somebody else's snow day, and a free pickup gets them there without a trip through Roslindale slush.

Where Donated Games and Puzzles Go

A Local Pick-Up Partner sorts collected games offsite. Many are redistributed to after-school programs, family shelters, senior centers, community centers, and classrooms that request them through the Give ME Books program. Some are resold by the partner.

Games are quietly in demand at programs that have to fill long, unstructured hours. The Book Donation Programs guide from the American Library Association is a useful read on how reuse programs handle non-book donations, and on why sorting is the step that makes any of it work. Items that cannot be reused may eventually be recycled as a last resort.

How Do I Schedule a Free Pickup in West Roxbury or Roslindale?

Enter your ZIP code on the Give My Books Network site, choose a service day, pack the games in with your books, and set the box out by 8 AM. Collection happens between 8 AM and 8 PM.

If a Local Pick-Up Partner already serves your street, you can book immediately. If nobody does yet, submit the request anyway. It enters the out-of-area pickup system, where partners working nearby ZIP codes may claim it. Coverage across Boston keeps expanding as partners take on new blocks.

What It Costs, and the Tax Receipt Question

A board game and puzzle donation pickup in Boston is free: no fee, no per-item charge, no minimum. Local Pick-Up Partners fund the service by reselling part of what they collect.

There is no tax receipt, and we would rather you knew that before scheduling than after. Give My Books Network and its Local Pick-Up Partners are locally owned family businesses, not 501(c)(3) nonprofits. If a receipt is what the situation calls for, a registered nonprofit is the right destination for the games instead.