Kallax: Definition

Square shelving unit by IKEA very popular among gamers because of its size and versatility.

Behind the unique names of IKEA products is a no less unique naming system. Shelves, office furniture, curtains or lamps — every product category is assigned its own lexical field. Thus those quaint terms are either typical Swedish persons’ names, Scandinavian places names, occupations, plants… The “Gamer Shelf”, as the Kallax has come to be known, has inherited its name from a 300-inhabitant fishing village of northern Sweden. The place is not known for anything board game related, but for a local delicacy called Surströmming, a kind of fermented herring that is said to have one of the most putrid food smells in the world.

The bonus with using Kallax is the ‘cubes’ that the units are divided into. Each cube neatly fits four Uwe Rosenberg ‘big-box’ games or four Days of Wonder standard size boxes.Bryan Carpenter

Kallax is available in many different shapes and sizes. It can be placed vertically or horizontally, stacked, set side by side, and their square shelves can be personalized with inserts, doors, boxes, baskets and various accessories, making it very adaptable. But mostly it suits board games especially well, the standard square boxes or the coffin box, and will hold the tiny card game as well as the gigantic Kickstarter edition. And without the all-too-common problems of sagging, bulging, sliding, or dishing.

A Killer

Just like games, shelving units have their killers. The Expedit (“shop keeper“) was the shelving solution of choice for vinyl records collectors. It looked as if designed especially to hold those good old LPs — as well as board games. So unsurprisingly many people protested when its retirement — and replacement by the Kallax —, was announced in 2014. Both units have exactly the same dimensions. The main differences are slightly thinner outer boards and rounded corners. To save wood. And money.

Kallax is now the preferred storage solution for gamers, collectors or board game cafes. It is featured in more and more shelfies around the Web, and its name becomes ubiquitous in the common gaming vernacular.