I don't usually leave reviews under three stars unless I feel it's necessary, not to criticize but to point out areas that could be improved. When I walked into Darkside Games, I wasn't greeted. One employee was helping a customer with a trade of multiple Pokémon cards, which is understandable, but I stood by the display case looking at Magic cards for quite a while without any acknowledgment or indication I'd be helped. During that time, another customer who seemed like a regular came in and was immediately helped, while I continued waiting. A second employee later came out from the back, walked past me without saying anything, and started working without checking if I needed help. After about 15-16 minutes, I finally asked about a single card I was looking for and got a dismissive response. Overall, the experience felt unwelcoming and not very inviting compared to other TCG shops I've visited. read more

Dark Side Games is a decent spot for local game enthusiasts! They have a surprising selection of D&D and Warhammer items and supplies - as well as MTG packs and specialty single cards along with other game supplies. They have two separate areas with gaming tables - a smaller section in the front near the entrance and a larger section in the back with a bit more decor and ambiance. They hold weekly structured MTG meetups and for other games as well (for a small fee) and their event schedule is easily accessed on their website. We came in with my son in search of MTG cards and had fun browsing their selection. Staff were friendly and knowledgeable. Prices were on par with other gaming stores in the area. Store and play areas were clean with some interesting custom decor items. They're located in a shopping plaza with plenty of parking. Would be a great place to host your own card gaming sessions or join an established local specialty card gaming community! read more

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Came into darkside games looking for some cards for my magic deck and was surprised at how knowledgeable both employees on staff were with my questions and even gave me advice and recommendations on how to create an even better deck than I had planned. I highly recommend this shop for any needs you may have magic related or not as they do have a broad selection of tabletop games and collectibles as well. read more

I stopped here on my way to Target with my family, we were curious what Pokemon they had. The staff were extremely polite and explained a lot to me. We picked up a few individual cards from the glass case and they gave my son some free sleeves read more

A decent little shop. Prices are fair selection is good and have a good selection of singles. You can email a list of singles you want so there's no waiting. The only down side imo is that they only have commander on Thursdays but it's still a nice little shop to spend your time in. read more

So I stopped by Dark Side Games while I was in the area! This store looked clean inside and had a ton of inventory! Jon and Fern were the dudes who helped me and they are both super nice and helpful! Definitely recommend the shop for your hobby needs, worth a visit if you are into any of the games they carry. read more

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Prices are really reasonable and cards are fairly priced. Decent selection of cards and accessories.

So I went in here last night and was looking to pick up some singles from the lorwyn eclipsed set, upon arrival we where not greeted by anyone while the owner and an employee behind the counter were working, so a bad start then we were talking about the cards in the case and what we wanted while the owner was on the computer basically ignoring us for about 5 minutes while we looked at the case I then said I think I know the cards we needed and he didn't move from the computer or even acknowledge us, so I suggest not going here the customer service is terrible and the owner is so rude and inconsiderate I would rather spend more money elsewhere or online than give them the business, so we left and won't be back read more

Shop has plenty of nice tables to play on; the store is clean; and staff is friendly and helpful! :) read more

Dark Side Games - Tabletop Games Near Me - Duarte, California

A side quest that has lingered in the back of my mind and probably in the mind of a lot of folks my age is figuring out if your pokemon cards are worth anything. I dug my pokemon card binder out and reached out to Dark Side which was the closest local card shop in the area. They were super friendly over the phone and told me to bring my binder in to get them checked out. They were super helpful in letting me know which cards were of value and which cards to keep for nostalgia purposes. The fellas there even gave me a pro tip on getting my card out of binders and in to penny sleeves and card savers to try to preserve their quality. All of this information was super helpful and it was all free. If I am ever in the market for cards or looking to sell cards I will be back! read more

The assistance was amazing and we got six good cards for really cheap. Big thanks to Miles, he is the GOAT!!!!!! read more

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Staff have always been super helpful when I come in between assisting me when I sell cards or baring with me while I choose what packs to buy and open next. I stick to magic but they have a huge selection to choose from and the tables always have people playing so that's always good to see. Definitely worth checking them out! read more

Amazing for Pokemon singles; they're very upfront about prices and often give you prices better than TCGplayer. Seems like a cool place to hang to play the game as well. read more

I can't say enough good things about this place--it's hands down amazing! I really enjoy talking to the staff, especially Miles and Fernando. Fernando went above and beyond to help me build my Commander deck for Magic: The Gathering, and I truly appreciate his assistance. This is honestly one of the best stores I've visited in a while. The prices are great, and if you give them a budget, they're more than willing to work with it, which is fantastic! I highly recommend this place to anyone interested in Magic, Pokémon, or even Warhammer. The staff is super friendly, and it's a shame I can only give it five stars when it deserves so much more! read more

My kid is on a Pokemon card kick and I can never say no, so we yelped the nearest gaming store and this one popped up. I am always at the Target near this shop, but didn't notice it until my kid started her Pokemon obsession. Their shop is very organized, clean, and inviting. The two guys who were working there are so nice and friendly. We picked out our cards and some booster packs and I have to say their prices are GREAT! They gave my daughter a Pokemon poster and some stickers as a promo and it made her day! I'm so glad we stopped by. We'll probably make a stop here weekly since they are so close by! read more

Dark Side Games - Cards we picked out. - Tabletop Games Near Me - Duarte, California

Awesome LGS. Great place to buy singles / sealed product for MTG. You can also hang out and game in store at no charge. They just require you wear a mask for some reason. Other than that it's awesome. read more

Had a good experience here. I stopped by on my way home and the staff was nice. My girlfriend had a good conversation with one of the owners and were satisfied with their selection of D&D Warhammer was not super wide selection but it was right after Christmas so I'm gonna blame GW for that. I plan on coming back! read more

All the guys at Darkside are awesome especially my arch nemesis Jon lol. Go Darkside read more

Great service and a wide selection, as well as knowledgeable staff. Also clean and neat store is a plus!

I was looking for a new TCG store to get MTG product and found this place very close to my apt. When I came in I was immediately greeted and asked if I needed any help. I met the person behind the counter who later introduced himself as one of the owners, then introduced me to his buddy the other owner of the store. I let him know that it was my first time in the store and he gave me the quick rundown of the shop. His service was greatly appreciated, he grabbed all the singles and even was asking what deck I might be putting some of the cards in. The shop has a great friendly/welcoming vibe and it is greatly appreciated. I went in the other day to grab some more singles since I had such a great experience and found some more stuff that I needed. I had very much the same experience as the first time. There were more customers there with lists of singles. Usually when I'm at a card store and it's busy service goes to the crapper, but this dude by himself was handing several customers orders and answering the phone without being a jerk. I can't say that about almost any other place. I will definitely be coming back to get more product and they have a longtime customer now! read more

It's a good time here! I've been looking for a place to play Magic the Gathering. I'm glad I finally found the spot that I feel welcomed in. The customer service at Dark Side is outstanding. They have good rates on their products. Dark side is big enough to handle multiple commander games at a time. I will definitely recommend other people to go here and play. read more

Hands down an amazing shop. The community is welcoming and kind. If you're looking to pick up games of Magic the Gathering you're in good company. Whether it be draft, commander or modern just give the store a call and they'll tell you when that player base comes in. I know there is also a growing pioneer group there as well. This store is also great if you're looking for Weiss Schwarz games. Saturdays. Check them out and hopefully if I'm in buying cards we can catch a game read more

Awesome tabletop games, board games and card shop that's clean and well organized. The owners are great and genuinely remember people who come by often. The prices are definitely more than fair. There's a large quantity of items avaliable and even if not they can order it for you or try to find it for you. read more

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Great local game store. Staff Miles helped me appraise some old Pokemon cards. gave me some sleeves for free. Very nice.

I'm a patient at City of Hope and have to make the 3.5-hour drive from San Luis Obispo once a month for treatment. Normally my husband and I pack our Magic decks and dice bag for the trip but this time we sadly left them at home. Dark Side Games to the rescue! Adam (the owner) was really friendly and knowledgeable. He immediately introduced himself and inquired about our gaming needs. One thing I have to give Adam credit for: he didn't treat me differently due to my being female. In other gaming stores I've been ogled, catcalled, and talked down to by staff and customers alike. None of that happened at Dark Side: I was just a customer, plain and simple. Sweet. Adam set us up with a duel deck (we wanted something ready-to-play) and some dice . He was friendly and engaging throughout our interaction. I could tell he's passionate about M:tG and has created a burgeoning community. I'm looking forward to visiting Dark Side Games again when we come back next month. If you have any Magic: the Gathering-related needs and are in the area, give Dark Side Games a whirl! read more

I found this place during quarantine while trying to support local businesses over Amazon and keep myself entertained with new games. The owner, Adam, is by and far one of the kindest local business owners I've ever had the privilege of meeting. I purchased from Dark Side at first to make sure my money was going into the community and not corporations, but I will continue to purchase from Dark Side for that reason, but even more so because of the extraordinary kindness that Adam has shown me. I can't wait for the shop to be open for play again because I can absolutely tell that he has an incredibly supportive community of gamers and just downright good people which is no doubt in part because he's an all around good dude. Shop local as much as you can and definitely make your way to Dark Side Games. The shop has great stock on all the latest MTG stuff and more. If he doesn't have something in stock it's because his store and community are so excellent that everyone has bought up his store. Holy cow I'm so impressed and I feel so welcomed every time I interact with anyone from Dark Side Games. read more

1st time coming into the store, was thoroughly impressed by their table set up, selection of cards, and accessories for cards. The guys were helpful in assisting me. Looking forward to playing at this LGS! read more

Super helpful staff! Fernando helped me out tremendously, I've been out of touch with card games and haven't played in years. He told me about the new new, suggested some Pokémon cards and boosters for my nephew, and sent me on my way. Great shop! read more

I play here and always have a fun time. Adam and the rest of the guys know how to run a welcoming, community-focused business. Bonus: I can take my kids here without worrying about what they'll hear or see. Everyone I've met there is respectful and just looking to make friends and play some games. Also, their prices are better than the other game shops in the area! read more

A group of 4 friends and I randomly showed up here to see if we could play a pick up game of Warhammer. They were happy to get us set up. They brought us terrain and made sure we were ok while we played. The store is very clean, sleek and organized. I recommend coming here for warhammer needs or card game needs! I was very happy with our visit. read more

Great gaming store, the staff is really friendly. Prices are great, would be a great place to hangout and play some games once it's allowed.

This place is something special. I came in for D&D 6 months ago and I spend most of my free time there now. The community that came together around this shop is only second to the two guys that run it. The owners Josh and Adam really take time to help and teach and are incredibly welcoming. They are both incredibly knowledgeable in Magic: the Gathering (encyclopedic knowledge, blows my mind) and have a great stock and also will take the time to help you improve and optimize your deck. A lot of people play EDH ("commander") but FNM gets pretty busy regularly. From a D&D perspective (my big passion here) they have a great display for miniatures and now paints / paint supplies, special edition dice (ravnica / waterdeep), all the books you would want, and if they don't have what you are looking for they're always accommodating to order it in for you. Also, Josh is an incredible painter when it comes to minis (no joke) and will sit and paint with you and help teach you the basics and when you're ready some pretty advanced stuff. If you've been thinking about coming in, looking for a new shop, or completely new to D&D or Magic and are ready to let your nerd flag fly, don't hesitate and come straight into Darkside Games. You won't regret it. And come say hi to me too! I'm there almost every Thursday and Sunday for D&D. read more

We just went down to pick up magic singles for a standard deck and these guys were phenomenal. They had most of the cards we wanted, offered fair prices, and good trades. They helped us brew the deck while we were buying and gave us good advice. This was the best experience I have ever had at a card shop. The players were friendly, groomed, and overall the shop has a good atmosphere and enough space for all the different games going on. I'm coming back to play and give them more business. read more

The staff was very helpful and nice! They provided great service when I came for some new vivid voltage pokémon (: They even gave me some free sleeves for buying stuff read more

Good assortment of minis to choose from, books a little pricey. You can get same books from Amazon for $10 less.

Had a great time introducing my kids to MTG, the owner (Adam)was very welcoming and took the time to teach my kids along with refreshing my memory. Even remembered my name the next time a came buy to buy some more cards. Nice, clean and a good location. read more

Very clean store. Everything is nice and tidy. The store employees are all very friendly and helpful. This is a hidden gem and I will came here twice in one week. I will definitely be coming back in the future. I am shocked that I did not know about this place before. If I am ever looking for Pokémon cards I will definitely be coming back here. I can see myself being a customer for life. Both times I have been here the experience was a 10/10 no issues and I am quickly assisted by a staff member ASAP. read more

Friendly staff and great environment. Commander, standard, modern, and more. Great place for mtg read more

Was working on the powerlines on the road next to the shop, I got bored on break and decided to check the place out since I've been wanting to try out table top games for a while. I didnt really have an interest in D&D but I heard warhammer was a fun game and the employees were very kind and helpful to any noobie questions I had. If I ever work in Duarte again I'll definitely come back for some expansion sets. read more

I've been looking for a local game store to play commander on the weekends when my home playgroup couldn't come together. I thought I had visited and tried out each game store in a 25 mile radius from my house. The stores I was playing at were ok but not great. Dark Side games checked every single box on my wishlist for a place to play. Great mtg single selection. Price matching with TCGplayer marketprice. 12 clean and well lit tables. Air conditioning full blast. ( I started being a sweatshirt with me to the store and couldn't be happier about). Lots of snacks and drinks. And a HUGE commander community. I never have problems finding games. On any given Saturday there are 4-6 pods playing 4 player games. The most important part of a good store is the staff. The staff is so friendly and kind. I'll often times find myself just hanging out at the counter talking magic for a half hour with them when I came to play. Super helpful finding singles, information, and even games if you're nervous about asking strangers to get in their game. Truly the best game store experience consistently every time I go. read more