“The Art of Box Art”, an exhibition by the Museum of Video Game History, presents a nostalgic overview of some of the most distinctive and recognisable original video game packaging, exploring how games have been presented to audiences over the decades.

Before digital platforms and online downloads, opening a game box could be almost as exciting as launching the game itself for the first time. Carefully designed covers, printed manuals and accompanying memorabilia transformed each physical edition into a tangible extension of the gaming experience.

In the early years of the industry, box illustrations often promised grand adventures that the pixel-based graphics of the time could only begin to suggest. As technology advanced, in-game visuals became increasingly sophisticated, while physical packaging gradually disappeared from shop shelves. Boxes once designed to contain digital treasures have now themselves become objects displayed behind museum glass.

Presented exclusively during Zagreb Design Week, the exhibition traces changes in illustration, graphic design, supplementary materials and marketing approaches across decades of video game history. At a time when gaming is becoming increasingly detached from the physical object, preserved game packaging has acquired cultural value as a record of the development of video games, design and their place within popular culture.