Insomnia Video Game Culture

Houston, United States

4.4

Closed now

12 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 281-440-1405
Website:
www.insomniavgc.com
Address:
724 W 19th St., Houston, TX, 77008
The Heights
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
2.5 miLindale Park (Southbound)
2.5 miLindale Park (Northbound)
2.6 miMelbourne/North Lindale
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 12:00 am
Closed now
Local time (Houston) 01:34 Saturday, 28 June 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 12:00 am
Saturday 11:00 am – 12:00 am
Sunday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Description

Specialties

We specialize in everything gamers love, except for games! We have video game-​related posters, t-​shirts, figures, collectibles, books, plushes and more. If you’re into animé, we’ve got merchandise for that as well. We offer special orders and have begun carrying Gundam kits. We also carry Kidrobot vinyl toys and other art toys. In January 2012, we joined Domy Books as Houston’s only Kidrobot Specialty Stores.

History

Established in 2011.

After going to a production of Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds by the Houston Symphony, my wife and I came to the realization that the video gaming community was grossly underserved. Sure, you could find video games, but the cultural/​lifestyle side was not being met. Gamers wear shirts too, right? We’re committed to doing our best fill this void in the Houston area and expose people to the crazy world of vinyl /​art toys at the same time! If you love video games, animé, or weird toys, there should be something here for you.

Meet the Business Owner

Chris U.

Business Owner

I managed Vinal Edge Records for 10 years and finally decided it was time to do my own thing. My wife and I are excited to start this new venture.

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Música y DVDs

,

Discos de vinilo

Chris U. says,

«I used to manage this place in its old north side location. I may be a little biased, but I think this is hands-​down the best record store in Houston.»

Fat Cat Creamery

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Especialidades culinarias

,

Helados y yogurt helado

Chris U. says,

«These kind folks are right across the street and make the BEST ice cream in town, paws down :)»

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12 reviews of Insomnia Video Game Culture

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Place rating: 5
Spring, TX
This is one of my favorite places to hang out with friends and play games on the weekends. They have Free Play Fridays and have some consoles set up for games ie: Street Fighter, Smash/​Mêlée, Mortal Kombat, MarvelvCapcom, etc.
Insomnia also sell all sorts of awesome stuff too. Vinyl toys, blind boxes, figures, and Gundam kits (which I mainly buy).
Place rating: 1
Houston, TX
The owner of this place will be the main reason I will not return. I have bought plenty of expensive items from insomnia. Whenever I come back to browse or ask him a question, he always has a nasty attitude and is very short with customers. Sure the tournaments are nice but the selection and his nasty demeanor will be the main reasons I won’t return. He can take his expensive candy and children’s toys back to north houston.
Place rating: 5
Atascocita, TX
Awesome Venue for Comics & Gaming.
Great Atmosphere.
The people who come are also cool and very friendly.
Great family atmosphere too. I brought my two young sons and
they enjoyed it too.
Food and Drinks welcome, but please be careful.
They have many tournaments and also Free Play Friday.
Had an awesome time.
Staff is amazing!
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
One of the few places in Houston where you can buy some of the latest animé goods and figures. They also host video events and tournaments. so Insomnia pretty much covers most of the geek culture in one spot. That and you can look at all the cool stuff while eating your ice cream from Fat Cat.
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
I took my 5 and 8 year old kids there on Sunday and was pleasantly surprised. We were getting ice cream at Fat Cat and I’d been wanting to check out the store for a while. My daughter is a huge fan of Manga, animé, and both kids love comics and video game characters like Kirby and Sonic. My daughter fell in love with a Hatsune Miku vocaloid plushie and my son got a Sonic figurine. They are thrilled with their purchases and the owner was very kind to them. I will admit that the last time I was an avid gamer was on the Nintendo 64. A lot of the stuff in the store was over my head/​unfamiliar to me. I felt very welcome there (no pretentiousness), and there were so many fun items to check out. We’ll be back.
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
THE NEW LOCATION ROCKS! The Mecca of licensed Kid Robot exclusive vinyl collections. Exclusives and rare selections. The owner Chris is very active in the culture of video gaming as well.
Parking us excellent and easy to find in the heights .
I LOVE THIS STORE. A MUST SEE IN HOUSTON
50 stars!
Place rating: 2
Spring, TX
This is a small gift shop which offers video gaming by the hour. Very niche gifts.
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
Just moving into Houston about 6 months ago I finally feel like I found a place where I belong on the weekends.
The atmosphere is wonderful, and the gaming community at Insomnia is absolutely friendly!
Free Play Fridays… well worth spending money on the Hot Dogs too! Playing DDR, Halo, CoD, etc. This beats Gamepad by far in Fredericksburg, VA.
The tournaments are not just well structured, but the tournaments also are a great place to make friends! Yeah I might curse every once in a while (rage much? lol), but overall it’s still worth it just to have a great time.
To sum it up, Insomnia is the best place, in my humble opinion, to play video games on any given day and or night. They have an excellent selection of memorabilia, plus being in North Houston, even along 1960, it’s a breeze to get there. Beats the Galleria and I-​495 traffic by far!
Will be going for months, and possibly years depending on college and location.
If you love Animé and/​or Video Games, this is a place you MUST go to!
Place rating: 5
San Antonio, TX
I LOVE this place, I only get to visit it a few times when I come into Houston but every time I visit I love it!
I have been to many many game culture/​japanese culture stores, and they are one of the best available.
I love their products, and how the are correctly priced. I know its NOT cheap to bring in products from Japan or other countries, but other business take advantage of that fact, while Insomnia does not. They have everything at a reasonable price.
I love how everything is spacious, clean and organized and easy to find.
I haven’t been to their weekend tournaments yet but I heard they are very fun, many people show up and have a good time.
So if you like video gaming, and some japanese/​animé products, this place is definitely it!
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
I love this place! My boyfriend and I come by this place a lot for their blind boxes and also for their tournaments! Lots of fun to be in this place! You can just come and chill and hang and pretty much do whatever! Really roomy and lots of cool selections of animé culture stuff and even food! Yum~ I can’t wait for more of the stuff that they’ll bring in! It’s always exciting to stop by to check out what they have :)
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
Love this place! I can never get enough of their merchandise! They have an array of vinyl toys to collect, as well as Japan Animé collectibles. The store appears to sell out of a lot of merchandise and they bring in new assortments all the time.
I like the fact that the store is very spacious and there is not a lot of clutter. The owner of the location has a very friendly demeanor. He knows his stuff from record labels, toys, j-​pop and more.
If there’s something you can’t find, he will gladly help you with it. This location is always worth the trip!
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
My fiancé and I had been wanting to visit this place since it first opened a few weeks ago (heard about it from a friend who linked me to their facebook page) and even though the business is just getting started the store looks great and has many awesome products!
The owner was working when we went and was very nice and helpful and greeted us and other customers who walked into the door. The store was organized, clean and had awesome figures, posters, vinyl toys and plushies (two of which were our first purchases. yay Tako!) as said in their description. They also have things like wall scrolls, Japanese snacks, art for sale from I believe local artists and space invader pillows (we need to come back for some of these, lol).
I really like that they hold game tournaments as well. I only know of two other places in Houston that do this, and those are strictly game centers. The only thing I would change is the time they close. When I first heard about them and their name «Insomnia» I thought they would be open until 12am or so, but sadly they are only open until 7pm everyday except Sunday. I asked the owner about this and he said maybe when they get more established he might change the times, lets hope! =D It would make it easier for my fiancé and I to make it out there more often. ;) (we live in katy=(.)
Its nice to have a store like this here in the Houston area, I hope Insomnia thrives and prospers!