Game Empire

These guys get 5 stars for Space, Game Selection, and Location. What a great store. The owner is awesome and is always helpful. The staff is hit or miss, but you come to expect that in game stores.
Unfortunately, this is balanced off by a terrible nerd smell that seems to have infused this store. I can’t go in here because I can’t bring my girlfriend. She won’t step in here any more.
We all know nerd smell exists due to the perpetual ‘no shower’ attributes of the common nerd. However, we must fight against that smell with daily scrubbing and Costco sized bottles of Febreeze. I still buy stuff here from time to time but I sadly just can’t spend my nights here any longer.
I’ll keep checking every month or so because I love this place and will happily update my review if this changes.

I can spend hours and hours exploring what this store has to offer. I do not play cards or such but they have so may more things to offer! They have unique chess pieces, game boards, card games, and even build your own tiny planes. They also offer the normal games such as Jenga, and scrabble and to the more fun party games such as cards of humanity, etc. If I wasn’t in such a rush, I would have perused some more. Just browsing the game boards they have here makes me kid happy. And I just have to touch and read what they are all about. They also sell Pokemon cards for the younglings, which made me come here in the first place. This place is huge!
The service is good, readily there when you need help but not all up your face. There were a few people here playing. Maybe, I’ll join in one of these days. Parking was street. I’m not sure if they have their own parking.

Happiness is beating a sibling at a Board Game. So, its only fitting that despite owning a PS4, etc game consoles, the teens still crave board game night.
Hubby and I stopped by here to check out their selection. Wow! This was like stepping back into the 80’s and I’m such a sucker for 80’s nostalgia; I mean, they even have Dungeons & Dragons. The front section of the store is a wide selection of Board games. The back section are tables where people can meet up to play their games. Cool.
Parking: We were able to grab a spot on the street, but its limited on the street.
Price: You can find cheaper prices on Amazon, but there’s something about looking at the boxes and feeling them in your hands.
I love when I stumble on places like this.

I play Magic the Gathering here and they have a huge space for all kinds of board and card games. The staff are usually professional and they know their stuff most of the time.
However, I wish they were a bit more generous with new players as it seems that they cater more to the established players. They are a bit stingy with promos and only the top players get anything.
Everything is expensive as well. They charge $ 15 for booster drafts while other stores charge $ 10 – 13

THIS IS THE WORST FORM OF BUSINESS I’D EVER ENCOUNTER!!!
I hate dissing places that allows people to gather and play board games together, but this is shit! YES SHIT! The owner is demeaning and unreasonable. If this place goes down, it’s all on the owner — i promise! With attitudes like that, there is no way people will come to do business.
IF YOU DON’T WANT YOUR MONEY TO BE SCAMMED — STEER CLEAR OF HERE! The SMALLL PRINTS at the counter — READ BEFORE YOU BUY if you must get something here.

I have to admit, their prices are just above amazon prices, but that is probably the only downside to the place for their cost of running the place.
You have a major variety of the most popular boardgames to select from, and they are usually up to date on those. I recently purchased my expansion for Five Tribes for $ 27, and I thought it was pretty reasonable.
PROS:
1. A good selection of games that are available to play-​test on the spot (located in the back of the store)
2. There are used games that you can explore and buy
3. An assortment of game enthusiasts roam around the premise. You’ll find warhammer, magic, and boardgame players here in the daily.
4. staff was very nice and helpful in my experience.
5. daily events like newbie night, mtg drafting, etc.
The also have a little corner for more retro consoles and games.
TL:DR:
If you’re a board game geek, you’ll probably like this place.

TLDR: 5 stars. Great selection, large game area, lots of terrain, great staff.
I’ve been coming on and off to Game Empire for the last year. However, today was what really solidified it and encouraged me to write a review. Today was already bad day due to work and I won’t explain all the details but Thursdays are X-​Wing League nights and I was dropping by to give a friend something that he forgot previously. Now, I am the current X-​Wing Store Champion at this location but due to circumstances I had to give up playing the game and most board games recently. I knew I would run into people I had played with there and felt a bit sad because I felt like I abandoned them by not playing anymore which didn’t help my mood.
Regardless, at the end of it I owed another friend some money and went to the nearby ATM to get a 20 seeing as I would rarely see him as I quit X-​Wing and most board games. I asked for change at the counter but the employee (didn’t catch name but it wasn’t Travis) denied saying that typically they need small bills to run tournaments and the such. I started walking around seeing if I could buy something cheap to get change but I couldn’t find anything that would give me 10 dollars in change. For some reason this made me visibly upset after such a long day. After a few minutes the same employee came up to me and asked me if I needed some help because he could see I was upset and I just said I wanted to buy something so I could get change.
He told me I could just buy a soda or something (Don’t ask me how in the year I’ve been here I’ve never bought a soda or even knew they sold it as I assumed their food policy meant no drinks as well) and I just told him just to get anything and that a Coke was fine. He hands me the Coke saying it’s on the house with the change for a 20 from before and saying it wasn’t a big deal and that it really was alright. I don’t know what it was but for some reason this really made feel a lot better. This is sad but I almost cried on the spot. Sometimes the smallest things make all the difference when someone is just having a bad day. This alone is why this place deserves no less than 5 stars.

This is a great place to come to play Magic the Gathering or board games. They host events all throughout the week. They have a huge collection of games for sale at decent prices. They also have some board games that guests can play for free. You can always find some people for a pick-​up game of pretty much anything. They host magic drafts at least twice a week, and they hold pre-​release events whenever a new set comes out.
My only complaint is that their magic tournaments could be run a bit more efficiently. There tends to be a lot of downtime waiting for the tournament to start and between rounds.

Finally a place to find board games that are hard to find and a group of super knowledgable people to help you with your questions. I would highly recommend this location to anyone looking for a new board game to play. Btw they have game nights on Tuesday at 1900 or 7pm for those a who don’t speak military time. Will be coming here for all my board game needs. Super clean location as well.

This place is awesome. I love playing board games. Not simple board games like monopoly and risk (they are fun and have their time and place) but strategy board games where you know that you crush your opponents with your mind, and not just luck. They have a great space to play board games, meet new friends, and buy board games.

At night, I toss and turn as I dream of the dread gazebo:
ED: You see a well groomed garden. In the middle, on a small hill, you
see a gazebo.
ERIC: A gazebo? What color is it?
ED: (Pause) It’s white, Eric.
ERIC: How far away is it?
ED: About 50 yards.
ERIC: How big is it?
ED: (Pause) It’s about 30 ft across, 15 ft high, with a pointed top.
ERIC: I use my sword to detect good on it.
ED: It’s not good, Eric. It’s a gazebo.
ERIC: (Pause) I call out to it.
ED: It won’t answer. It’s a gazebo.
ERIC: (Pause) I sheathe my sword and draw my bow and arrows. Does it
respond in any way?
ED: No, Eric, it’s a gazebo!
ERIC: I shoot it with my bow (roll to hit). What happened?
ED: There is now a gazebo with an arrow sticking out of it.
ERIC: (Pause) Wasn’t it wounded?
ED: OF COURSE NOT, ERIC! IT’S A GAZEBO!
ERIC: (Whimper) But that was a +3 arrow!
ED: It’s a gazebo, Eric, a GAZEBO! If you really want to try to
destroy it, you could try to chop it with an axe, I suppose, or you
could try to burn it, but I don’t know why anybody would even try.
It’s a @#$%!! gazebo!
ERIC: (Long pause. He has no axe or fire spells.) I run away.
ED: (Thoroughly frustrated) It’s too late. You’ve awakened the gazebo.
It catches you and eats you.
ERIC: (Reaching for his dice) Maybe I’ll roll up a fire-​using mage so
I can avenge my Paladin.
For those of you who are familiar with this tale, then you have found the right place. First off, this board game store is huge and airy. No funky nerd locker smell. They have plenty of tables here that I imagine magic players using. I personally came here to see their game library section where you can try numerous games from elder sign, ticket to ride, and all of the other classic euro games.
As for their selection, it’s quite vast. They have a number of d and d books, board games, war figurines and TCGs. The workers here leave you be for the most part so if you need help finding something you’re going to have to get their attention. This didn’t bother me because I usually know what I’m looking for. Prices are the standard MSRP but they have loyalty points here through 5 star which can lead you to getting discounts.
Like I said, I really enjoy the size of this place and the abundant tables. There is a decent sized parking lot in the back so parking shouldn’t be an issue. Overall, I really appreciate stores like Game Empire that have trial games for you so that you can try it out before you buy it.

Not bad for a gameplace — tis was my first time at their new location and they have large space for enthusiasts to gather and engage in their games. I actually was disappointed they didn’t have larger inventory stocked for role playing games. I went in looking for Metamorphesis Alpha or Gamma World. They had just a couple of items and not what I was looking for. Nice folks on staff — who were enthusiastic and cheerful. In spite of not finding what I wanted I am enthusiastic myself about the place!

I’ve been to many game stores in the Los Angeles area and Game Empire is the best. It’s not perfect but it leaves the competition behind.
Pros:
Great, large gaming area for free!
Great selection of games
Large selection of free trial games
Discount area (mostly outdated stuff)
Friendly staff
Cons:
Parking not great
No discounts (outside of the discount area)

If you had told seventh grade me that one day dungeons and dragons would be kinda cool in the far off future, I would not have believed you.
Well, first, I would have picked up all of my homework that I just dropped from my Trapper Keeper, and then I would have not believed you.
Just goes to show you that the hipster phenomenon has reached new heights (or plumbed new depths, depending.)
Yes, my friends, the singularity is upon us, where Imagine Dragons can be simultaneously the best and the worst band ever
, and Dungeons and Dragons now has hipster cred.
Don’t believe me? First, are you really surprised by a group of people who drink fricken Pabst Blue Ribbon? Second, just come on down to Game Empire where it’s kinda hard to tell whether they are playing D&D ironically or not…
That is until you discover that they’ve named their 3^rd Level Elf Magic-​user Charles Bukowski
Nevermind. Because Game Empire is a judgement free zone. A glorious place where men (and an increasing number of women) can come to get their nerd on. Maybe we have Big Bang Theory to thank as well. Certainly ComicCon.
The people who work here are knowledgeable, friendly and, dare I say it
kinda cool.
7^th Grade Paul is getting a little verklempt.

First of all, let me say that the parking situation pretty much sucks ass. It’s a little dinky parking lot shared by the furniture store next door with not much room to back out or really maneuver your vehicle in, but eh, not too much of a big deal. If you’re an inexperienced driver (hi, me), park a street over and walk!
With that being said, my time at Game Empire was fun, and rather enlightening. I walked in with a friend, looking to pick up some Magic Cards (ayyy MTG) as a gift. The very nice man behind the counter directed me to the area in which I could find 10cent cards (looking for dat Great Wall as an inside joke), and I ended up picking out 10 cards for solely aesthetic purposes (I’M A DISGRACE) even though I didn’t find Great Wall. Hey, they were 10 cents, right?
I digress.
There’s a good amount of rare/​expensive/​useful Magic cards under a glass display case, along with booster packs behind the counter, and ~$ 200 fully assembled Commander decks. Sorry to the poor employee that had to deal with my complete lack of knowledge of MTG.
Anyway, Game Empire is pretty much what the name describes it as: an empire of games. They have a bunch of versions and expansions of Settlers of Catan, loads of niche games (medieval, Game of Thrones, even MLP: FIM), collectible figurines from popular shows, and of course, stuff for trading card games. If they turned the place into half-​coffee-​shop, half-​board-​game central, I’d be here all the time.
PSST, they also host card tourneys on the reg. There’s this vast expanse of tables solely for the purpose for people to play on during operating hours. If I ever decide to invest in MTG, you’ll find me here.

I have not been to this game store in close to 6 months, but went in today to browse around and look for a friend that hangs out there, the store owner pulled me to the side and told me today I was no longer welcome there and in 5 minutes i am officially trespassing! Again i have not been to this store in close to 6 months so I am pretty surprised and asked Chuck the owner what this was about and he said its wasn’t something he was willing to share. So there you have it, get randomly banned for no reason after being a patron for years. Take your business elsewhere because these guys don’t care about you and will just ban you with no explanation.
Also the mark up here is crazy, expect to pay double for everything you buy when you can get it on Amazon for half what they charge.

I used to come here quite often, it is fairly close to home (I live in San Marino) and they have a rather large open area for gaming. It doesn’t matter that some of the staff can be rude and unhelpful, they do have a great selection of games and they run many tournaments here.
The selection of used games are frequently overpriced, but occasionally there could be good deals. Some overstocked games that are older are sometimes offered at ½ price.
Some of the games I play (such as heroclix) are not run here anymore. So I have started to take my money to other stores when I play tournaments there.
Despite what some other has written here, the owner Chuck has never been rude to me. The store is always clean, bright, and well maintained. The games are always sold at MSRP, which makes it hard for them to compete with internet vendors.
They do offer a point reward system where you can earn 1 pt just for checking in each day, and a point for each $ 20 spent. When you reach certain levels you can cash the points in for various rewards.
Parking is difficult when they are busy, such as the monthly pasadena game day on the third Saturday of each month or when there are major tournaments going on (magic or warhammer).
This is one if the nicest game stores out there, they just don’t run the games I like to play.

I’ve had Game Empire bookmarked for a very long time but never been in the area to stop by. Finally after 2 years of GE being in my book marks, I finally got the chance to stop by. The parking lot, although ample seemed a little small, but then again I won’t complain as I found a spot right next to the door.
Upon entering, my first reaction was «Woah! this place is huge!’ The gaming area in the back half of the store alone is bigger than most places I’ve ever been to… and that’s just the gaming area, not to mention there was some storage area in the back, and I think the restrooms too. I went the main area of the shop and noticed they have a fairly extensive board game selection as a well as a videogame area too. I play DnD and Pathfinder and was a little disappointed in the lack of Minis for either game, but there was a decent selection of dice behind the counter and an isle with a few Pathfinder Adventure Modules.
Other than what I stated above, I was very impressed with the store and my wife saw that Kid in a Candy store look in my eyes while in the store,. Though I didn’t purchase anything on this visit I do see myself coming back again soon… after all… my gaming group needs a new place to play.

This is a pretty cool place to hangout with your friends if you are getting tired of playing video games at home and want some face to face interactions with another human! They have an area with lots of tables and chairs that you can play with your friends.
They sell a various kinda of board games. Board game varieties includes war games, cooperative games, kids, chess etc. There are some that I have never seen (forgive me that I am a newbie in the board game world). They also have a lot of little figures and parts that u can built your own board games.
They also sell magic cards!!!
Believe it or not, they have a lot of demo board games and magic cards that u can try out before u purchase for your own copy! Las but not lease, they purchase used board games and sell used board game! Good concept of recycle.

It would be best to start by saying that I used to love this place. It’s got an amazing selection and had a good atmosphere until I started paying more close attention.
The owner is an obtuse and impolite man. I have witnessed him being short with customers and have experienced it myself. When purchasing dice our DM asked if we could dry roll. We got an oddly aggressive response about how the practice of doing so was being abused by superstitious gamers. The whole thing came off as ride and mildly insulting.
The next occurrence was the final straw though. I was trying to purchase the Star Wars AoE core rule book. It’s been online for weeks but I believe in supporting brick and mortar retail. So I called to see what my chances were to pick it up that week. I spoke to one person who took down my info and told me to call back the next day. The next day I spoke to a woman (Jennifer?) who again took down my information and told me I could come after noon the next day and I could get the book.
Here is where this place displayed a complete and total lack of customer service. I came in, no book. No attempt at an apology or even an offer to order it! The cashier wasn’t rude but wasn’t helpful. But the owner? To quote «well she under ordered we only got 3». Not a word after that! No attempt at all to express what an inconvenience I had gone through after calling twice on two different days. Literally every place I called was more polite and helpful than GE. I ended up at The Realm in Brea, which was amazing. Geeks in Whittier, Next Gen Gaming and Emerald Knights score major points for customer service in addition.
To sum it up here are some of the games I have purchased from Game Empire before deciding to end my patronage:
Ticket to Ride
Small World — +3 expansions
Smash Up — +3 expansions
Game of Thrones Board Game
Race to the Galaxy
Elder Sign
Arkham Horror
Multiple sets of Dice
Star Wars Edge of the Empire — + dice and expansion
King of Tokyo
Settlers of Catan
And until further notice:
Nothing
So long GE, guess you don’t like money or having loyal customers.