Universe Games

Game over. Bought a game here on New Year’s Eve that sells on Amazon for $ 25, $ 44 here; quite a premium. Nevertheless, needed a game, had made the trip, didn’t want to leave empty-​handed. So I waited for 10 minutes – an incessant wait while some guy took his sweet time and the guy behind the counter moved slowly and not once acknowledged that there was another customer waiting. Two days later, having not opened the game, I decided to take it, still shrink wrapped, with receipt, and return it. The answer: «umm, yeah, we don’t really do refunds.» Hmm. Receipt, still wrapped, $ 44 price tag intact. I explained that plans changed, we didn’t play and that I was frankly not able to justify a double-​price. The response: «well, umm, yeah, well, I mean that’s why we charge a premium because we actually have it.» I looked around for their return policy and as one might guess was nowhere to be found and not on the receipt.
So, this is a perfect exception to the rule of support local business. These guys are more cutthroat and arrogant than their big box retail competition. Sad. Choose wisely before shopping here. Arrogance does not make for happy experience or good neighbors.

#EDIT#
The owner responded quickly and was very understanding of my frustration. He explained the source of the confusion and it seems that this was a genuine miscommunication. I increased my rating to 3 stars.
#Original#
Universe texted an offer on Black Friday 2014 that they declined to honor once I arrived at the store. The offer was supposed to be buy 1 get 1 free on all board games and dice. The message came out via their loyalty program Friday morning. There had been no attempts to send any further communication by 6pm when I arrived at the store. They stated that they would not honor the advertised deal because they INTENDED to say buy 3 get 1 free and they didnt want to SPAM their customers again with the correction. One of the employees offered to let me have the BOGO deal as long as the free one was less than 50% of the purchased one… this was essentially useless since most of their games are roughly the same price… unless I wanted to buy an $ 80 game there was little to nothing that I would be able to use the deal on anyway.
The manager claimed that the text was a typo. No, it may have been a mistake but not a typo! the text clearly said «BOGO» which is not a simple typo if the intent was buy 3 get 1 free. I also dont believe that it was impossible to communicate the mistake to their customers. I went to the store a full 7 hours after getting the text. I am a member of their loyalty program so they have several methods of contacting me. Finally, mistakes happen but the business should have been willing to offer something more reasonably close to the advertised offer.

It doesn’t look as fancy as say Mead Hall games but it does have quite a few long tables to play magic or other games. If you don’t care about cool ambiance this is the place for you. Although they did have cute miniatures in display cases next to the tables. Not sure what game they were for. They had the more accessible Cards Against Humanity and the deck building game Legendary with 2 expansions. There’s an employee favorites section. My boyfriend actually ran into someone he used to play magic with 8 years ago. Now he works here. Small world.

Ok, I’ll be the first girl to review Universe Games, I have no problem with that.
I like this store because they are always friendly when I come here. I’ve come in with a list of Magic cards my bf sent me with to get prices on and the guy was very patient and more than willing to look up and price everything on the list with no attitude., even though I only bought the ones under $ 2. They have a book of cards I think that you can look through and their prices are pretty competitive. They offered to have me sign up for the rewards program and I didn’t get any strange looks for being the only girl in there (which does happen from time to time being a girl who plays Magic), and they weren’t condescending, either. Good selection on cards and sleeves as well. They also have drinks and snacks at a reasonable price. The best thing is that not everything is behind the counter and you can browse without someone breathing over your shoulder the entire time. It might be worth it for them to find a location or open a second store with a better parking situation, but what place in Uptown has good parking, right? Recommend this store for sure.

Universe Games has a surprisingly strong selection for a shop of its size! I stopped in the first time after striking out the Source and found both of the games I was looking for. I also like the fact that whenever I stop in people seem to be using the tables and playing. The several times I’ve been in the staff has been super friendly and gone out of their way to be helpful. They also appear to have a great library, too. My only complaints are cosmetic — I do wish they would keep the area behind the counter a little tidier. (Plus, parking in Lyn-​Lake is a pain, but that’s hardly their fault.)

I’ve stopped in and purchased a few boardgames from here. It’s the closest game store to my house, and has a wonderful location near the corner of Lake and Lyndale. The store is not huge, but has a pretty good selection considering their size, and have been willing to special order when they don’t have the item that I’m looking for in stock. It’s clean, well-​lit, and friendly.

I love this place. Universe has great prices — even cheaper than some items on Amazon! The staff is friendly and helpful. The events they host make the place feel like a true community, neighborhood store. Stop in for sure!

I’ve stopped in here quite a few times… it’s the place where I play my board games locally. I’ve got many places much closer to my house, but this shop is above and beyond other shops. After stopping in a few times, the staff remembers your name, they recommend games for you to play, and often will play them with you as well. Their VIP program is well worth it if you find yourself buying a lot of games as well.
For your gaming needs, I can’t recommend another store in the twin cities metro.

If you want to find a hobby gaming shop that will offer you advice on exactly what game to get, this is the place.
I’ve been to a lot that I walk into and say, «I have 2 – 4 friends I play with and we need something new, whatcha got?» They ask me a ton of questions and match me up with 2 – 3 games and everyone wins.
They also have a very large Magic following here. Every Thursday and Friday night, the place gets packed around 6:30pm. You can still visit and buy things though, it’s just… a little louder.
Warhammer is also here and the folks are very friendly to new players.
They have a VIP member program that allows for discounts and preorders which works nicely and isn’t terribly expensive.
Their selection of games is actually quite large for such a small shop. They also have Magic singles and Warhammer figures in large amounts. I’m always surprised at how much they have in stock.
The greatest perk to going here? The staff. They genuinely care what you purchase and wants you to be happy. If you get a game you love, you’ll be back. That benefits you and the store and builds a community. There’s a reason they’ve been able to sustain a lake street and lyndale location with only street parking. Think about it.