Does Laurel still own this shop ??? I miss the old location - lots of cool stuff in a small store (hidden from the world) I miss TV Star Rob - he was cool read more

The store has everything for anyone interested in the world of card games and best board games in the world. The staff there are very helpful and create an inclusive atmosphere. read more

The staff were nice, very quiet, and focused in on work there. If you knew what you were expecting to find the prices were not that bad. Even if you had no idea what you wanted they had more than just trading cards. As I recall their figurines selection was huge. read more

My son likes it, and it seems like a safe place. They have a very organized system for gaming. read more

They have great online card selection with good prices. The players are a highly competitive and have decks that will end the game faster then you can shuffle so unless you have a tier 1 deck don't waist your time. read more

I have been here twice to buy pokemon card packs. Their price on packs is standard for a card store. The store is large and was running some kind of open card play or tournament one of the times I went. The parking situation can be dicey on the weekends when there is a tournament going on. Seems like an average store to me. They seem to have a good selection of D&D stuff. They also have some card collecting supplies. read more

Best place to buy cards and amazing Yu-Gi-Oh! And Pokémon tournaments on Sunday and Yu-Gi-Oh! On Thursday.

I make an occasional trip to Dream Wizards to check out their Yugioh products and it seems like they don't care enough about Yugioh to make my visits worth wild. I understand the philosophy. They may have other trading card games and board games more popular and more appealing than Yugioh, so why dedicate that much attention to Yugioh. Well in that case, they should do away with the weekly Yugioh tournaments. If they continue to hold the weekly tournament, that means the game is popular. They have a lot of cool products for trading card game purposes such as sleeves, playmats, and books, but their Yugioh selection for packs and singles is lacking big time. I'm bothered by their $1 box where all of the Yugioh cards in the box is $1. When I looked up the value of the cards I wanted on TCG Player, they were like $0.16 cents or $0.25 cents at the most. When asked if they would honor the median value of the cards instead of the $1, they said they would not because looking up the price for each card would take too much time. At least at MTG First (formally Squabbles), they had a $0.25 cent box, a $0.50 cent box, a $1 dollar binder, a $2 dollar binder, and a $3 dollar binder. They recently placed their valued Yugioh cards in the case instead of the old binder they used to have. ALL of the Yugioh cards in the case are extremely overpriced and I'm not sure who's coming up with these prices. Case in point, they have an ultimate rare Allure of Darkness in the case for $100. Why when the listed median on TCG Player is only $52 dollars? I don't know if they're just slapping whatever price they want on the cards or if they're purposely making the prices high in hope of ripping a young child off that wouldn't know any better. If Yugioh is your interests, stay away from this place. read more

I'm updating my review to four stars. I've been back here several times over the last year, especially now that I've moved down to the Pike & Rose area. I've had nothing but positive experiences here. The folks who work here are always pleasant and they've got pretty good prices. read more

It's kind of hidden away, which is okay, but it's also small, limited in stock, and run by people who don't seem to know or care much about games. It's also a fairly unpleasant place that could use some better cleaning. I've been in here a few times, but never felt compelled to buy anything or even felt comfortable being there. It seems to attract the worst elements of the gaming community, and I would suggest that anyone looking for somewhere to run a game or buy gaming products can find a better place to spend money on than this. read more

Love the store. Started coming there regularly in 2020. Great staff, always willing to help out or check up on stock when messaged on facebook. Looking forward to post covid events and tournaments. read more

We loved our visit to Dream Wizards. A fun selection of games. We found two new ones to add to our collection and kiddo found some Pokémon cards she really liked. Item was priced wrong (low) and they honored the price which I appreciated. read more

I hope you can hold your breath for a long time. This place smells disgusting the point where I wait in the car while my husband runs in and out if he's desperate to get something. Otherwise, we spend a lot of our money on Amazon and wait the 2 days for shipping. read more

I came in looking for a gift for my boyfriend. Mind you have no idea what to get nor what they really sell and I knew a name & I needed help. Never got it , why because the conversation behind the desk was more important , I suppose. Nor did I get a greeting but I guess it worked in my advantage since I took my business else where read more

When you first walk in, Dream Wizards seems like a great place. Big, filled with tons of stuff. It only takes a short bit of time until the illusion is dispelled and you realize that it's actually one of the worst stores you have ever been in. I'm not even sure where to start with this review. The employees are rude. I wish there was a stronger word than that, because they might go down as the rudest employees I have ever seen at a store. They aren't helpful, and they don't care about you. I have been into the store four times. Twice I have been accused of shoplifting. Secondly, although the store has a very large selection, their prices are through the roof. For Magic: The Gathering cards, their prices can sometimes be double what StarCity is. Cards that are worth $0.50 are sold for $2.00. And it's not just the Magic cards that are exorbitantly priced. Everything else is as well. I found an old card game on their shelves from the 1990's. They had marked it at $75, the price it was when it first came out. But the game was poorly received and never went anywhere. The game now sells for about $15 online. When I told the employee I would give them $30 for it, he said they couldn't sell it for anything less than the full sales price. When I pointed out that it was available for a lot cheaper online - plus the copy in the store had a layer of dust on it and I was likely the only person to ever be interested in it - he shrugged and just walked away. I actually put myself through the pain of attending two of their events here. They're poorly organized and poorly run, and the people who play at the store represent the worst stereotypes of the gaming culture. Players are rude, mean, ill-tempered and have poor hygiene. It's only a matter of time until one of them sets the store on fire, because that's the type of person I found playing here. I also attended one of their Pokemon events, which are equally horribly run. I spoke with the owner, who said the store opened in the 1970's and she took it over from her late husband. Maybe he cared for the store, but it's obvious she's just turned it into a thinly veiled cash grab. I think this place is staying alive from the shear momentum of 40 years in existence, but it's time for it to close. Labyrinth, Curio, and Victory have all opened in the D.C. area, and these are much, much better stores to go to. There is literally no reason at all I can think of that anyone should ever go to Dream Wizards, and I advise you to avoid this store at all costs. read more

I would like this place so much more if it didn't constantly smell of B.O. and french fries. It doesn't matter how many people are in there or what time of day it is, that's the smell. They do have a nice selection of gaming stuff but I'd go to Outpost/Other Realms in Gaithersburg over this place any day. Plus parking here is a pain in the butt especially with all the construction on Parklawn. read more

Back in the day (waaaaaaaaay back in the day), I was a RPG nerd. Not just any RPG nerd...but a D&D nerd. Hey, this was well before online gaming and WoW and crap. Back in the day, our games were powered by our IMAGINATIONS. HA! Take that! OK. Yeah, I was lame. Still am, because I still really love to game. But at least I don't LARP. HA! Those are the real dorks! But I digress... Back in the day, when I was a proud RPG nerd, I used to hit up Dream Wizards for my gaming supplies. This was back when it was located behind the hotel next to Congressional Plaza. Now it's on Parklawn, past the Wendy's but before the ethnic market that used to be a Lotte. I had heard that the quality and selection at DW had gone down dramatically since back in the day. Not that they were that great back in the day, but when it was one of your only options, believe me, they were marvelous. So I came in, not exactly expecting to find what I was looking for - or at least, getting a ton of attitude while looking for it. Instead, I got two very pleasant sales people that were working the counter, and was able to help me out. There was a tournament going on in the back, so the place was pretty busy (and had the old familiar rank smell of old fast food and gamer BO), but they still were able to dig around to get me what I needed. YAY! The prices were higher then what I could find online, but hey, I was in a pinch, and if you factor in shipping costs, they were only a hair pricier. Eh, sometimes you have to pay for convenience and piss poor planning), right? read more

Clerk basically ran me out of the store. He said he was about to eat his lunch and could not have me near the counter. Bad move. I had planned to spend a lot on vintage mtg singles which is where he wanted to eat. What a bad move especially during these times. I had been going to DW for over 30 years and used to play in store. I will no long support this local game store. I suggest you do not either. Waste of time. read more

Poor selection. Advertises Anime on its storefront and has absolutely none (No, Pokemon cards don't count.) This is a bog standard game shop with emphasis on Warhammer figurines, Magic, and a smattering of common board games. Skip. read more

This review is about their Magic: The Gathering events. I've been here many times but only because it's the largest MTG gaming store in the area. They hold FNMs, PTQs, etc. The good: Lots of players, lots of sealed product. The bad thing about this store if the greediness of the owner and the douchebaggy players the store attracts. The owner loves to charge for events with horrible prize support. The staff is rarely friendly and the singles are poorly stocked and overpriced. As for the players, the store attracts many top competitive players but unfortunately the environment leans towards the douchebag side with newcomers and beginners being berated and ridiculed by the 'established' pros. If you're looking for a more welcoming group, I'd recommend Anime Pavilion. read more

Disclamer: I would hate to see a brick and mortar store disappear but this review is going to be negative. Pertains to: MTG events I have attended one Saturday morning draft here, and I have attempted to make a pre-release event. The following are my experiences. Clearly this is a popular location, drawing upwards of 50-100 people for an event. This is a great feeling. I live about 45 min away so I have to call ahead to see if there is still room. In both cases I've been told I should come, but in both cases something has gone wrong. They started early on the first event necessitating I accept a loss if I wanted to participate. The staff displayed no regret at this (despite having urged me to come.) On the second event I arrived, stood in a line of 60 or so people and upon entry was told that they were only accepting Cash. This had not been advertised (and I had not been warned over the phone.) They said tough luck and asked me to leave. This is not a friendly location for newcomers of the game. The owners and staff clearly like feeling like they're running pro-tournaments. I've seen the staff speaking harshly to new players who were playing too slowly. To add to this generally unfriendly atmosphere, the staff and the regulars clearly have a rapport and make derogatory jokes about each other loudly during play rounds. This further serves to alienate new-comers. The selection is good. Its clearly a community staple. Review posted to raise awareness and suggest to new players, try elsewhere. read more

I have had issues with this place before, especially the employees that don't seem to want to be working there. They're rude at worst and simply ignore you at best until you come right up in their face to ask them a question. The general hostility is unacceptable. I am an avid gamer and have been playing role-playing games for nearly 26 years. That off my chest, I can't understand why a store would call itself a gaming store when they have four shelves of role-playing books in the middle of the store and that's it. The 'store' looks more like a place to play games, rather than buy stuff. Well, I have a kitchen table and better chairs than they offer for that as well as a clean bathroom that isn't painted with piss from people that can't aim their genitalia correctly. Their prices are also ridiculous when compared to Amazon. I have Amazon Prime, so I am not even paying for shipping on books I buy there and Paizo has PDFs of their books you can buy and download right on their website, so I see little need to come here to be insulted or to be assaulted by the smell of a dirty latrine and 'hardcore gamer' body odor. The quick and dirty: The bathrooms are disgusting, the employees are rude or don't care, and there isn't enough actual gaming material to be bought to bother driving all the way down Randolph to get there. read more

The SO and I are pretty avid tabletop gamers (not RPG) but board games. Over the last few weeks we have hit most of the big gaming stores in the area and we stopped at Dream Wizards on a whim. Not the biggest selection, but we did pick up a few items, including a game that just came out from Japan (that we hadn't seen else where). There was a ton of people playing various games in the store, so if you are short on friends to play games with, I am sure you could find someone here to play with. Overall the prices are a bit higher than else where, but I seriously disliked that most things didn't have a price on them. They argued that the price would damage the product... but when the product is wrapped in plastic shrink wrap you aren't putting the sticker on the product anyway! Just lazy employees. read more

I'm pretty sure places like this are the reason people leave the gaming hobby. Back in the day, you'd have to deal the "gamer stench," the (overly) competitive players, the stench of the (overly) competitive players, et. infinitum -- but no longer. The DC-Metro area has a number of great locations for gaming. Some people may like this place, but if you're a casual gamer just looking to browse or play a game or two, you're probably in the wrong store. This place is definitely catering to the hardcore demographic, or at least that's how it's working out. They get an extra star for their large gaming area, but honestly, I'll happily deal with a cramped space as long as it's clean and free of people arguing over rules/results. I say pass. read more

Last weekend my wife and I headed out for a random road trip, and ended up going to Dream Wizards - which was exactly like what we were hoping for (but didn't get) when we hit the Compleat Strategist a couple of weekends back. A large gaming area, very well-stocked collection of games of every stripe, and attentive personnel. Of course there was the standard "teen-boy scent" - The Mrs noticed the was one half of the female population (the male population was maybe 25 or so) - the other a young kid, probably 12-13, playing Pokemon happily amongst the sea of boys. We also got to see a low-grade temper tantrum from one of the other players in a tournament... complaining that his purchased booster pack was useless... stomped and slapped the pack down amongst the poor counter-folk. I suspect that he was maybe about a half-hour to an hour to being ejected from the premesis. I highly recommend paying them a visit, and while you're there, pick up a copy of Fluxx or Chrononauts! I couldn't resist picking up a copy of Polarity (thanks again for the hint, Keethrax!) and Cosmic Wimpout ... a Yahtzee-like dice game I used to enjoy back in high school. I think the last time I played it was about 20 years ago in Mr. Eck's Marine biology class, fourth period. Not sure of the exact day, but it was near the end of the school year in 1987. read more

This review pertains only to MTG events/merchandise. Whatever benefits this place has (big playing area, competitive players for MTG), they get heavily outweighed by a mean staff that tries to nickle and dime you every chance they get. Even judges who come to manage events warn you against asking the store owner(s)/workers because they might be dicks. That is quite telling. I don't mind the price of singles (no store is cheap, they gotta make rent somehow) but the fact that they don't even make commons/uncommons browseable is ridiculous. You have to ask for SPECIFIC cards and then the staff will look for them and charge you a ton for them. This is only if you get the guts to ask the staff to look for a card for you (to which the most common response is that they don't have time to do that right now). The competitive community here includes some of the best players in the region but it is not very new player friendly. The casual playgroups are far friendlier but they're generally only around on Thursday nights. One star for large play space. One star for good casual community on Thursday. If you're closer to the VA stores, stay away from DW. read more

Super cool ! I love this store and the staff is super nice. I don't know why people are saying that staff is bad because it wasn't our case. And we found everything we needed ! read more

This is a review from going to their Return to Ravnica (MTG) Release draft tournament. I and two buddies went. We haven't played in a while, and the staff was very friendly and helpful, even talking through the rules changes with us. Very large playing space and turnout; you could tell they're a popular spot for MTG. Players were friendly and nice at my table, though one of my friends sat down with a table full of regs that were quite a bit more competitive. He said he felt a little pressured during the draft (which he'd never done before) since they drafted at such a quick pace... quick glance at the pack and they'd made their selections. Not the most talkative bunch. Basically a very unlucky table draw. I really enjoyed myself, but the atmosphere was touch and go. I can see it being unfriendly for newer players, and the tables aren't the cleanest or classiest I've ever seen (plastic, paint stains from model painting). That said, I will absolutely be going back. To me, the drawbacks were minor or cosmetic. Not important compared to having fun and playing the game, and definitely not dealbreakers for me. Then again, it probably keeps some nice casual clientele away... and I like casual folks. Hence 3 stars. read more

Overall, not a bad card shop but the employees guaranteed I didn't want to return. Went with a friend of mine to check out some cards and maybe play some games. As we're playing at one of the tables, an employee comes over to tell us that they're going to have a Magic tournament in about thirty minutes so "he's gonna need us to get up and find somewhere else to play". I'm paraphrasing here, but he basically told us to get the hell up and find somewhere else to play. He could've handled the situation in a more polite manner. As we're checking out to buy some stuff, I can see the employees being rude with other customers as well. One guy checks out and ask him a question after the transaction , employee tells him "you're done, so get to the side and I'll answer your question". Doesn't stop there. My friend purchased some singles from the apathetic employee who sat on his laptop the whole time and looked inconvenienced when we asked for help, and as he takes the singles out, he handles them with disregard for the fact that someone is trying to purchase this card in good condition. Yeah they were sleeved, but I didn't like the way he handled taking them out or holding the cards. I needed to buy some card sleeves, but opted to do so somewhere else because I did not want to give them any more of my money. Not a bad card shop if you just want to go in to buy what you need and get out. They had a decent collection, can't complain about that. Just don't expect any friendly customer service. Not somewhere I would want to sit and play cards either, seeing as how it looks like an after school card club for the local youth. read more

As far as card play goes, this store does a really good job keeping things fun, moving on time, and is very friendly to new (and anxious/nervous/shy) players (including kids). Love it here. read more

Age check. I've been going to Dream Wizards since 1987. At the time Dream Wizards was located over near Congressional Plaza behind where the REI now sits. That was a much smaller basement space but it was packed with RPG games along every wall and magic / mystical stuff in the back. Who doesn't like a little black magic mixed in with their RPGs!?! I spent more money and time in this store than I'd care to admit. Today, I have crates and crates of old RPG materials to show for it. Since then, they've moved to a much bigger space along Parklawn Drive which I guess gives them room for Magic card tournaments, Warhammer and HeroClix battles, &c. That's all fine. While I like the idea of Dream Wizards (a local brick and mortar FRPGS), it just doesn't stack up to what's available online, both in terms of selection and prices. I would be disappointed if the store dried-up and went away, but can't afford paying a 20-30% premium (i.e., MSRP) on things I can more easily get elsewhere. I hope they do well by their events... read more

Stay far away.. It's very sad to me when an "establishment" isn't able to score a positive review in nearly 2 years. If you're looking to pay the absolute top end prices + tax for the same products you'd find anywhere for significantly less..then you've come to the right place. For Magic the Gathering cards, if I wanted to pay "Starcity Games" (The top end of retail for this particular market) prices I would just buy straight from Starcity and save myself the tax/headache of dealing with this unfriendly staff...it's like they're not even trying. This is just not a good environment to be in if you're into card/fantasy games. read more

Doug is very knowledgeable in just about every game in the store and extremely helpful! Not only that, but the community of players is very welcoming and friendly and made it easy to get into Magic the Gathering andWarhammer 40k! Definitely my favorite store read more

This place was pretty fun. Very spacious to play games. Where I started playing D&D. Though, personally, being an 18 year old HS student, I think it would be better to show up 30min. early with friends to avoid playing with a bunch of middle aged people. Even then, they were pretty chill to play against anyway. read more

I've been going to this store for a bit and I realize that this store catches a bad rep. from what i've seen. Though sometimes the people can be a bit rough and the employees on the cold side, recently, this store has undergone a good amount of change and it is starting to show signs of a healthy store. - Renovations - more hygenic players - more organized events just to name a few changes. I'm also told that they will be renovating further. It seems like a transformation of this store is imminent, and I doubt if you won't see me there once or twice a week. All this being said, every store has its ups and downs, but sometimes it's up to the customers and fans to lend a helping hand. If you have a complaint, be sure to express this. If enough people do, anything can change. read more

I used to frequent this place all of the time, but after the fourth time of my binder being stolen out of my bag that was right next to me or once ripped out of my hands I stopped bring everything but my deck which also got stolen. The reason I stopped going was the owner, I called the police to file a theft report after my binder which had around $40,000 worth of cards was taken out of my hands and finding out their security cameras were just for show and not hooked up she told me I wasn't allowed to come there anymore because of my mother calling them up and asking if they had security cameras. Instead of telling her she hangs up and starts screaming at me. Her son is also a nightmare to deal with, he starts more fights there than anyone but he always gets the sportsmanship award from the tournaments. He also gets almost all of the floor prizes too. The prices are terrible, the employees were just used to me so they never were rude but I've heard stories about them. The best employees left after the owners husband died and she broke down mentally. Also the only people who play here are new players, you're almost guaranteed to get 3-1 in a prerelease if you know how to build in limited. read more

I really wanted to like this place. I relocated to the area about two years ago from a place that had a really great selection of gaming shops. When I found this one I was happy, but I quickly realized that their products were overpriced (I'm not even just talking versus Amazon pricing, a lot of their games you can buy at Target now and they're cheaper there). The staff was never outwardly rude to me, but they weren't exactly helpful, either. I bought a couple versions of Fluxx from them, but that was it. I will stop in to browse for new ideas if I'm bored, but that's about it. read more

This is a fairly large store but surprisingly not that much inventory or selection given how big the space is. Many of the games were dusty and the prices were higher than other retailers. Staff were talking to themselves and not very helpful. I'll just stick to Labyrinth in DC for my games - they're much smaller but still manage to have a lot more in stock. read more

I'm rooting for bricks and mortar gaming stores in general, but I really haven't been crazy about the direction Dream Wizards seems to be going in. I stop by every two months or so, and each time it seems like the store has less and less RPG inventory, with more and more space and resources given over to seating for card-based events and tournaments.That said, it's the best gaming option in the nearby area. read more

I love this store. I've been coming here for my nerd gaming needs for over 20 years (old location and new). They have a large selection of all types of games and collectibles. Tabletop miniatures, CCG's, board games, RPG's, books, and even art supplies. They have it all. What makes this store so great is the community events that they are constantly running. They have all types of tournaments, leagues, and open play days for Warhammer AoS and 40k, infinity, MtG, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, D&D, X-Wing, Random Board Games, and pretty much any other nerd related games. If you are a hobbyist, you should definitely check this place out. read more