Level Up Games Saint Paul

Level Up has a fantastic selection of Magic the Gathering cards in their case. Everything was well organized and it was easy to find what we were looking for (including some cards we've been looking for for a while). The staff members we interacted with were kind and knowledgeable. They have all of their collection of MTG cards $5 and more inventoried, so they can search for any card you're looking for in that price range, from all their locations. They had a tremendous selection of board games. They also had comics. The game room is located in the back of the store. There is no divider, however, the noise from the games going on was modest and did not detract from the overall experience at all.

Fantastic local gaming store! Video games, boardgames, card games, Games Workshop (with a discount!) They have it all, they take trades at comparable rates to all the local stores. The staff are amazing, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and capable of providing help and recommendations based on what you are looking for, and what you are looking to get out of the game/hobby, (we got setup for D&D with 2 young kids awesomely with good feedback just recently). But all this said, it does what LGSs are designed to do, provides a safe, welcoming community for people enthusiastic about the products they provide to meet and enjoy gaming together at, and it does that better than other LGSs I've known across the multiple states and countries I've lived in. if I could give it 6* I would!

I’ve had positive experiences at Level Up before, so this was disappointing. This review is really for both locations. Both stores have now removed their “premodern” bulk boxes because some premodern cards have spiked. I get not wanting to accidentally sell genuinely valuable cards too cheaply, but the boxes were full of cards well below the fixed prices: 4-cent commons, 70-cent rares, etc. As someone who just likes old-border cards and is building a pauper cube, it’s frustrating to see the whole thing pulled instead of periodically sorting out the few cards that actually matter. What bothered me more was the attitude behind it. The person I spoke with on the phone said people had been “taking advantage” by finding “hundreds of dollars” in value. That framing feels pretty gross to me. The store presumably acquired these cards for less than they were selling them for, and premodern cards in that range were not suddenly bulk a year ago. It sounds more like the store didn’t do its due diligence, then reacted by taking the whole category away from local players. I also came in specifically for the bulk, but still bought higher-priced singles while I was there — $135 of cards just yesterday. So in trying to avoid someone occasionally finding a $3 “spiked” premodern card for $1, the store may be losing more in actual business and goodwill. If the store is still making a profit, it has every opportunity to go through the boxes and pull the playable or newly valuable premodern cards. But leaving the rest for local players to dig through is exactly the kind of thing that makes an LGS feel fun and player-friendly. I was just really disappointed by what felt like an anti-player reaction from a store I had previously enjoyed.

Stopped by here with my daughters today (5 and 7). They’ve been really into double solitaire, Uno, and blackjack lately. We’ve also been playing through Pokémon Black on my old DS. Anywho, I used to play Pokémon TGC all the time with my little sister, and I’ve been thinking that my kids would probably dig it, too. We went into the store, and I asked if they had Pokémon Battle Academy, which I was hoping to show my daughters to gauge interest. I’m new to finding out how it’s tricky to find TGC stuff in-stock…but instead of leaving a little disappointed, a wonderfully warm and kind human told us they had Demo Packs (two 30-card half decks) available…for free!!! My daughters are in love with it! It’s so cool to see! We’ve already played three games, well, half games (with three prize cards instead of six), and our evening was filled with debate over which deck is better. We’ll certainly be back to buy more cards eventually. Y’all are so great. I’m glad to have you in my neighborhood.

This is a really awesome spot for gaming, and getting supplies to game. There are two fully accessible restrooms inside. The back area is set up for gaming with multiple tables, and a few shelves with games and supplies to play. There are retro video games, and systems for sale. The selection of cards is limited but they have a wider selection online. I would play many games here.