Game Empire — Attraction in San Diego

I hate writing reviews for my favorite game stores, but if I'm going to I want to explain myself. I am not a regular, but I am a local and I've purchased and bought games from this shop in the past at their old location. The employees are generally very helpful, but that's always a gamble sometimes. I had many great experiences.

At the new location, I came in back in March to browse the new stock of board games and to pick up something fun. I wasn't asked for help, but that was okay for me- I was browsing but would have kindly taken some assistance in buying a new board game by the employee on duty. They didn't offer, but like I said- it was okay for me at the time.

Well, to my surprise I looked up to see the store owner in my face asking if I needed help. I was intimidated as hell by his tone, and I'm not one to turn down help, but I kindly said no-thank-you...I judged his tone correctly, because he went to the other wanderers in the store to ask the same thing with the same gusto before returning to his employee and loudly saying something to the effect of them being lucky we didn't need help and "See how easy it is to not be fired!"

Maybe the employee wasn't being very proactive, but do I remember the employee not talking to me, or the loud angry owner?

I was still browsing when over the loud speaker the owner pipes on with a bit of humor that his regulars may have appreciated, but it was to the effect of "if everyone can buy something so I can make some money, that would be great." Like, I get that it was probably playful humor, and he is a businessman. But I was browsing through games and had barely been there for a bit. Already uncomfortable with his outburst at his employee, I felt extremely unwelcome.

The find on one of his shelves luckily made my visit very good. I happily came up to him to pay for it. Trying to shake my nerves a bit, I asked about the parking situation, which from the front looked to be limited.

He snapped at me and told me how easy it was to park behind the building. I explained my confusion and apologized, telling him he probably heard the same thing from other people. He was upset and angry, and it took me a while to calm down after the fact.

So they did have more parking, which I realize now- but I'm not an idiot and I'm not trying to make his job harder. I wanted this info because I wanted to support his store, and I can't change the fact that so many people didn't understand the parking situation.

When I read reviews like this I always think "Oh, that person is too sensitive" or "What kind of person takes time out of their day to vomit forth such silly indignation" - Well, in this instance I felt ostracized. I was in a pleasant mood and I don't go into the store feeling bad or vulnerable.

When you yell at your employees in front of us, tell us to buy something or get out, and make me feel like an idiot, why do I want to come back?

For the record, I'd take twelve employees who aren't doing their job over anger. And if I had been approached without the stunt to shun your employee, I would of asked you "Hey, show me some of the new board games! I'm ready to buy something fun for my friends tonight!"

But I was scared, and offput, and I can't imagine ever walking into that store again or feeling welcome.

And I'm terribly, terribly sorry I have to write this review and that it took a week to put out there.

Like I said, the community surrounding it has been great, the employees seem nice, I caught this guy on a bad day I'm guessing, but my understanding and compassion can only go so far. I want a pleasant, welcoming environment for my local hobby...

I'm giving it two stars because it seemed like regulars were having a lot of fun playing at the tables which I think is amazing! Definitely a good environment if you're looking to play. But if it weren't for that/you're looking to turn cards in, this place is ONE STAR all the way due to the customer service itself. After reading some of these reviews I agree: if you have kids, DO NOT GO HERE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.

Quick story time: I've had these MTG cards that were given to me a rather long time ago by someone who bought them in 2003 and I just never found the time to learn how to properly play sadly. I decided I wanted to go see if any shops would take them after a long time of them sitting on a shelf. A very good family friend of mine gave me recommendations of shops and he gave me this place WITH A WARNING about the staff and how they can/are regularly cheap with buying/mark-up prices but I was like "I'll give it a go! Maybe they're different now!" I had called prior to see if they were willing to buy some MTG cards from 2003 and I was passed on to a woman who SEEMED very kind over the phone. I came in the same day as she said she would take a look at them. Super sweet (or so I thought).

As stated before, I was unsure of what kind of cards could be worth something so I did a LOT of research and CATEGORIZED THEM a few days in advance. I different stacks based on which ones were common, rare, uncommon, etc. (Also had knowledge of which ones were worth the most, 10-15 dollars worth due to being foil cards).

I get there with a friend and we wait patiently for our turn to be seen. The store is cool for games and paints for sure. Great quality! When it's our turn, I bring the organized cards up and start trying to explain to the woman the system I made and she speaks over me, interrupts me, and then puts all the cards together instead of just looking at the ones I WANTED her to look at. She then tells me "oh yeah we give these (the poor quality cards) away for free, they're worth nothing" as I TRIED to tell her those weren't the ones I wanted to be seen. After she finally listened to me about what cards I wanted her to look over she hands them off to someone else and takes them to the back.

During this was when my friend and I witnessed her trading with a kid who seemed rather anxious because well... He's a kid! She talked about his "junk pile" of cards which seemed rather excessive. I know it's the card business but this was a child, wasn't even looking to sell; just trade. Along with this, the overall tone of the staff including her was rather obnoxious, "elitist," and just overall not friendly. I do somewhat believe that they are kind to regulars which makes sense which is fine! But if they treat people who come in to do things with cards and minis like how they treated a CHILD along with my friend and I, do not go here expecting them to be kind. Instead, expect them to be rather rude with rolling eye energy whenever you speak.

Once the other employee (this one actually seemed nice, kind of. Not totally sure, very few words exchanged) brought the cards back, they gave a rather poor price for them knowing the research I had done prior. After I said I just wanted to think it over, they both left without another word. I understand taking a cut, but overall I wish I had listened to the warning given to me before coming in. Left feeling almost cheated of cards, as well as learning how you shouldn't judge a tone over the phone compared to employees in person. Never going back and I hope whoever reads this...

Great store run by great people. I never miss a visit here when I'm in San Diego. They always have different things going on. They have tables where you can just go in and play games. You can meet up with friends and hang out and play games. They have some games available for people to play but most of these are older/less popular games...mostly people bring their own games.

There are also a lot of people working on painting their warhammer figures.

They have tons of games for sale (which you can buy and go right over to the tables and start playing). I have read reviews of people complaining about their prices...i dont feel it is fair to compare a brick and mortar stores prices to prices you can find on Amazon. Yes, you can generally find cheaper prices online...and then you have to wait for it to be shipped.

The people that own this store and the people that work here are GAMERS. They LOVE games. They can help you find games that you will enjoy if you talk to them. Sometimes, being human and all, they might be distracted or doing work related things you dont realize has their attention...but if you just say "hey, can you help me" they will be happy to.

You cant do that on Amazon...and shopping on Amazon you also wont have any chance encounters with famous gamers like Wil Wheaten...and you definitely wont meet new gamer friends shopping on Amazon.

This is a store to hang out in and have fun. Food isnt allowed, but they do sell some badic snackage and theres an Arbys nearby. They also have a bathroom available for when you are there...