[3] Out of the Box Publishing was established in 1998 in Madison, Wisconsin by Mark Osterhaus, Ellen Winter, Alan Waller, Cathleen Quinn-Kinney, and John Kovalic.

[2] The first game published by the company was Bosworth, a four-player chess variant which has since been retired.

[3] Since the sale, Out of the Box had new growing games, such as Word on the Street, 7Ate9, and Snake Oil.

Out of the Box Publishing was best known for games that take less than five minutes to learn, and less than a half an hour to play.

[3] Their games have been called "surprisingly entertaining" and "silly fun",[5] as well as "thought provoking and humorous".