Marbles: The Brain Store

The main sales guy who is always there (white guy in his 30s w bushy black eyebrows) has been rude and insulting to me whenever I’ve ventured in.

I love the selection, but the customer service is absolutely horrible. I’ve been to this store on multiple occasions and the employees have always been pushy (following you around the store, forcing conversation, and insisting on showing you different things) and very condescending. I avoid going in here because I don’t want to constantly be harassed while I browse.

My visit there left me with an awful feeling and a vow to never return. They have interesting stuff but very pushy, unethical, and annoying staff. I can’t believe how rude and nervy the employee was, not only trying to goad me into buying something but offering merchandise directly to my young son telling him that he could take them home.
My son was playing with the sample toys, and the salesman even went as far as complaining that we were at the store for a long time without buying something. I think I’ll stick with Amazon, with much lower prices or support an independent store, whose employees understand not to bite the hands that feed them!

I love Marbles Stores! I’m a big game night nut, and have a shelf already stocked with the classics like Sorry, Taboo, Yahtzee, etc, but need some different, fun games I haven’t already been playing for 25 years; that’s where Marbles comes in!
The Marbles games are not usually ones you can easily find in big retailers, and all games are meant to use and enhance some cognitive skill — vocabulary, memory, logic, critical thinking, reading comprehension, etc to help you get a brain workout while you play. I have the game of Curses, where you must follow certain rules (e.g. Speak like a pirate, hold one arm above your head) or other players can ring a bell if you aren’t properly following your «curses» and you will be out. I also have Infunitum, which is like Scattergories except everyone writes down as many answers as possible to one category at a time, and gets points for unique answers. I also purchased one of the Goldie Blox learning toys for my niece’s birthday from Marbles. There are many more puzzles and games I’d like to own from here in the future. The staff are always great, too; they know how each game is played and will help you try out the store models to see if you like the game. You can also get a Marbles Rewards card to earn discounts on future shopping trips!

I love the Marbles store! They offer a great selection of expert-​tested games, puzzles, software, and books that will test your noggin. Started by Lindsay Gaskins, the mission of this store is to find the best brain training games out there and have a one-​stop-​shop for the people. The products are in specific categories (for coordination, creativity, critical thinking, attention & focus, logic, math skills, memory, visual perception, vocabulary improvement, and word skills); there are also products for individuals who have ADD/​ADHD, Alzheimer’s, autism, brain injury, mental illness, for stress, and for other learning disorders — how cool is that?! I personally like the board games (Tic Tac Two, The Geekbox, Quoridor, and Squashed), and other puzzle pieces (such as the Katamino, the Y-​Ball, and the Tegu). The staff here are very friendly and helpful; definitely can be a great alternative to gift-​giving as it’s both fun and educational for your kids, students, nieces/​nephews, and even to play (compete) with your friends. :D
+expert-​tested games!

I think playing these games gives the staff Jedi mind powers. I walked in just to browse and Peter, the lone employee turned my browsing somehow turned into a narrowing of games that might interest me. A few questions of what the last game I played and what types of game I played turned into playing a few games that I liked right away. I definitely brain farted hard a few times and instead of making light of my epic fails he provided me some tips for it. I liked it enough that I picked it up and stayed far longer than I intended playing more.
I walked away with three games, definitely more than what I intended to buy but extremely happy with my purchases anyway. I’ve been playing now since I bought it in the hopes of developing the same mind powers as the staff and practicing ‘These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.’

Last Thursday evening I strolled into Marbles the Brain Store at Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, IL with my 10 year old daughter never imagining the fun that we would have there.
Marble Brain Store employees Frank and J.R. were engaging, very knowledgeable about all of the products and enthusiastic about their work.
We were fortunate in that we happened to enter the store on «Game Night» which is held every third Thursday of the month from 5:30 until 7:30.
It was a great shopping experience providing us with the opportunity to learn about the various products and experience them before we made a purchase.
We walked out with a couple of games and smiles on our faces looking forward to our next trip… Perhaps for game night next month!

I plan to never shop at this chain again.
I bought their «Power Up Electric Paper Airplane Conversion Kit» and it turned out to be useless.
When I tried to return it the same day, they wouldn’t take it simply because the package had been opened.
I used to send a lot of money here, but I guess this was the first time I had to return something.
Now I know, so I wouldn’t suggest buying anything here unless you are CERTAIN you will love it.

My family loves the crap out of this store. We are big gamers, and puzzle doers, and find some of the best stuff here. They have everything from the intellectual to the visual and physical. Everything to challenge and amuse you.
My son is so in love with this store he can spend hours there playing and even helping other customers picking out the right gift for themselves or their children.
The staff is amazing as well. They are well versed in the games and will not only suggest a game, they will go so far as to play with you.
Stop by and see what they have to play with and hang out for a while. You will not be sorry.

NEVER BUY GAMES FROM ANOTHER STORE AGAIN! Where else can you play the game before you buy it? Where else does the staff know EVERYTHING they are selling? Where else do you find games parents and kids enjoy playing?
NO WHERE! (okay, maybe there are a few other places, but the games ain’t as cool!) This is our new favorite store! I wish to God I’d gotten my butt in here sooner. .would have saved me a lot of time that’s now lost playing really crappy games that we bought for the kids at other stores… I wish we had one of these stores when I was a kid… I’d have played a heck of a lot more board games!
We’ll be shopping here a lot!

I love stores like this and wish there were more of them around, but it seems that many people don’t enjoy games that challenge them the way the merchandise in stores like Marbles does.
Be prepared that it is impossible to run into this store just for a second for a quick look. If you like puzzle games of any sort, you will likely spend a good chunk of time in here reminiscing about or reacquainting yourself with old favorites and learning about new ones.
As is usually the case, products in stores like this are not cheap. Nonetheless, they are likely worth the investment for hours of fun that will follow.
I found the staff to be super helpful when I had questions about some of the games.

Cool store. I’m a fan of puzzles and random things to keep my hands busy while sitting at my desk on the phone with client or watching TV. Stopped by while at the mall on lunch and ended up buying a couple small puzzles as well as this re-​arrangeable icosidodecahedron magnet thing for my office desk.
They have a number of puzzles (from jigsaw to classic twisted metal or «get the ball off» type deals, rubiks cubes, etc.), different board games (like scrabble, and others that make you think), and books on keeping /​losing /​building memory.
The lady running the shop was very pleasant and very much excited about the store, said it’s fairly new, so I thought I’d give them a shout out. If you dig this kind of thing, good puzzles and whatnot, or know someone who does and you need a gift, this is a cool place to stop in.

You might need this store if the following scenario rings a bell: flipping through channels, and stopping to watch a familiar movie scene. You say to your significant other: «Isn’t this the movie where Tom Hanks has to save Matt Damon?» For a few seconds, you have trouble coming up with Matt Damon’s name (Matt Damon!!) and can only come up with «the guy who played Jason Bourne».
When the S.O. immediately says «Saving Private Ryan,» allow yourself a moment of anguish for the steep decline in your once-​formidable brain power.
** Ok, this happened to me. I’d best get to Marbles before I’m reduced to grunting and pawing the ground.