Been coming here for a few years. I enjoy the people that work and play hear. Playing areas are a little cluttered but I expect some clutter with a free place to play my games. read more

Had an awesome time gaming tonight at the warmachines tournament. Check this place out and get your nerd on. Just don't eat at Lucky Wok across the parking lot, it's nasty. Really bad.... read more

GMI Games - Mark Lim strikes again! - Hobby Shops Near Me - Riverside, California

I play many tabletop games and love it when I can find a store like this nearby. I wanted to see if they might have jigsaw puzzles there for my girlfriend, so I called them. The guy who answered maybe meant no harm, but it very much sounded snarky and condescending when he told me to check Toys R Us instead. Other reviews seem to say they are sometimes rude so my experience doesn't seem to far from a possibility. I will probably never even go to this store now because of that phone call. read more

A bastion of gaming in the Riverside area. Lots of gaming tables (geared more towards mini's play) and a fine selection of everything you could ask for. Friendly staff, too! They seem to be undergoing some improvements or construction, though. When they finish and everything's clean and organized again I'd be happy to give them 5 stars. read more

Great store with a good selection of table top games and TCG, though everything seems a bit overpriced. Customer service is very hit or miss. Been left standing in front of the register for a few minutes while the owner sits at his computer playing games. The regulars that show up for game night are awesome and the gaming area is great just wish the customer service was a bit better. read more

Went in to see all the 40k stuff as well as other tabletop games and to pick up a few things to get started on the hobby, the owner was very helpful and suggested glue, brushes and primers for my models and they turned out great. Had such a good experience I will definitely be coming back for future purchases. read more

GMI Games - Some of the models I purchased, painted with the materials I bought at GMI. - Hobby Shops Near Me - Riverside, California

I took my son here to play magic, the players were awesome, the building was awesome, the man that sold us card covers was awesome,..... the lady the took the money for the draft was a HUGE turn off !! She didn't smile, wasn't helpful, and she made me so uncomfortable that I'm on Yelp finding a different place to take my son. Could have been she just had a bad day, but that was not a very good first impression for me. I really don't want to go back there...if can find a different place that would be awesome. read more

Hidden jem! Shame that there aren't more of these around. Relatively good selection of table top board games, with reasonable prices. Additionally, there are some that are on sale which are a steal! Owners are friendly and the people there are great. read more

Store has no A/C just fans which moves hot air around. owners are helpful if you are spending money. Some of the gamers in the store are rude and make you feel unwelcome if your not a regular. You have to be in the warhammer crowd to get any help. I would look some place else to sit and play. When I asked if there were other stores-the customers ran down a list (7 stores) told me not to go there cause those stores were rude and overpriced. I visited 3 of them and found just the opposite. read more

They have d&d adventure league. Only place around me that has it. So if you're looking to get into d&d or find people to play with this is a good spot. read more

My least favorite magic TO in the LA area. Under the old system they overcharged every tournament by $10 and then offered the worst prize support of any PTQ in the area. Under the new system, they had absolutely no stock of standard staples the day of the tournament (what arguably should be their best method of profiting from the tournament) and gave store credit in prize....which again was absolutely worthless since their singles display case did not contain a single standard staple. When I asked for help in finding cards I could spend credit on the lady working the counter was rude and impatient with me. Even worse, the stock they did have was overpriced and did not include tax. If you can play a PPTQ somewhere else, do it. read more

Came in here to buy Settlers of Catan for a present. They had a good selection of board games and just what I needed. They're currently remodeling and moving everything to this new location, but it seems to be an upgrade. I'm glad places like this exist outside of LA, where people can gather to play games. Owners were kind and helpful overall, but lacking just the touch of warmth needed to make a newcomer feel enticed to stick around. read more

Excellent selection and wonderful service. Worth the drive out to their location. Had exactly what I needed and then some. I signed up for their rewards programs because I plan on returning. Lots of space for groups, too. read more

Great collection of board games but the older lady who helped me was extremely rude. She really needs to work on her customer service skills. Suffice it to say, I will never be coming back. read more

The people who work here are very rude and not helpful (the older gentleman with the beard and the shorter old lady) this has been my experience on MULTIPLE occasions. They also have a really bad selection. Finally, they are more expensive than other stores. I definitely would not recommend this place for magic players. read more

My boyfriend, his friends and I are interested in starting up our first D&D game. We have lots of questions to say the least. When the Internet could only take us so far we stumbled into this establishment while the owner was behind the counter. After wandering around a bit we started asking questions and looking for guidance in starting up our table top game. The owner, presumably because he referred the store as 'his', was so condescending and lacked all customer service skills and common decency. He must have been the DM of all DMs to have ever lived to have the right to speak to his customers the way he did. We were about to purchase the started pack from $20 from him, support local businesses and all. But after he addressed us the way he did we went ahead and ordered it for half the price and free next day shipping from Amazon. read more

You know what. The lady who is at the counter. She's cool. She's a sweetheart. I do thank her and the dude who looks like Matt groeing for keeping a store open in the former Albertsons shopping center open. Kudos. Kudos to all the people that make this place actually happen. Me and my brother appreciate it read more

They could use some serious customer service/social skills. I've been there a couple times and always get attitude. Everything is so expensive. There are definitely some good things about it though. Pros: Huge selection, even some rare stuff big play area Cons: Unfriendly attitude Expensive! read more

My family has recently been revamping our gaming interests. We looked up several shops in the Inland Empire or surrounding regions, and this one came up nearest. We were excited to go, and despite having much cheaper prices on Amazon, we really wanted to support these local community stores with our money because they're so unique and limited. We visited this store about two weeks ago and went to browse the selection. We weren't greeted and we were ultimately ignored even when asking questions. The woman from our first visit was the same woman today. She's older and doesn't smile or relay any sort of welcomed feeling, and she appears to be the owner based on other reviews. Today there was an older gentleman accompanying her, but he also acted the same way. The first visit we bought an expensive board game to support this store for the purpose behind our thinking, and we assumed the next visit might improve as we can't possibly get the same arrogant, rude, and careless behavior from an employee again, but we were wrong, lol. Our second visit, today, we were planning to buy another game, but we got the same treatment. Small time mom & pop stores like this need to be most heavily focused on customer service, not the opposite. This is why Amazon and such retailers will wipe these small places off the map. We proceeded to visit a few others in the area. We HIGHLY suggest you avoid this place. We read the negative reviews, but still gave it the benefit of the doubt. The negative reviews were SPOT ON. This store is probably acceptable for the long term folks that have been attending gaming events here for years, but for all others, these employees (or owners) are just not people worthy of receiving business. I recommend a place called Game Empire in Pasadena which is pretty nice and much, much better than this place. If you cannot go far, even Barnes & Noble has a bit of a selection of similar things for slightly less. These places thrive off of referrals and local business, they need a lesson in life and how to treat people. I would assume that they are going to go out of business at some point though, so time will tell. Avoid it. read more

Not only do they have indie board games, and serious board games, and card based games, Warhammer and other games of that ilk are serious here. Two rooms -- one room set up for gamers and gaming. The other room -- merchandise, cash register, and paint sets. Though it is a Warhammer-friendly/heavy place, there's still lots of board games and card based games here. And its amazing. I fear coming here because I always buy stuff there. ALWAYS. read more

If you love anything geek this is a place to check out. Even if you just want to stop in to look. They have a great collection of board games and supplies for painting miniatures. When I asked the shop owner for advice (I just started painting miniatures) he was very helpful and nice. I have seen other reviews saying it is expensive but they sell their board games at list price which any "brick and mortar" has to if they want to make a profit. Additionally their paints (at least the Vallejo brand I use) are cheaper than online either on Amazon or the manufacturer site. read more

One of the best gaming spots in Riverside! Professional staff that treats customers, not brats, with respect. They treat you the way you treat them. Great place for newcomers to any TCG/tabletop game. If the staff can't help you learn a new game, one of the many players would be happy to help out. Lots of loyal players who love whatever game it is they're playing. read more

As mentioned before this is a great please to meet friends and play the game of your choice. Catherine (the older lady) is great and provides the best customer service I have ever seen. I drive 45 minutes just to play at GMI GAMES and I will keep coming back for years to come. read more

Came in trying to start up Necron army, treated me like shit. Rolled eyes at every simple question. Took my business elsewhere, 4 armies later and I still haven't come back. It's a mess every time I call. They must hate their lives to sound so miserable all the time. read more

Great customer service and decent prices. If you want the lowest price in the universe go online but if you want helpful advise from knowledgeable staff, HUGE selections of games, and a general area to hang out and throw dice or slap cards GMI Games is your last stop. This is where the gaming community goes for all their supplies. read more

This place is awesome. They have a HUGE variety of RPG board games, deck building games, miniatures, expansion sets, and magic the gathering cards. They have events like Friday night magic and huge tables in the back part where you'll always see people playing all kinds of board/card games. The couple that run this store are extremely knowledgeable about the games they sell and are very helpful and courteous. I cannot express how awesome this store is, you guys rock! read more

Overall a great place. Once in the while staff can be caught on a bad day, but for the most part are quite helpful and knowledgeable. Main draw is the large gaming area though. Good for all game types and open most days. read more

This store is AMAZING!! They were very accommodating for our Universal Fighting System (UFS) PTC event, friendly and priced fairly! I'll be sure to come back! read more

I have to admit I have been going to GMI for years now, but only when it's absolutely necessary. There staff is never ready to help you, you practically have to steal something(not that I ever did) to get there attention. The owner's can be cool but are for the most part a bit bitter. Inventory is not bad but prices are way too inflated. And they do like to ban people, something I have bear witness to. Personally, if you're going to start banning regulars, you might as well close up shop, because nobody's going to come shop at your store with that attitude! read more

I called GMI because I know they have a huge selection of games. That being said, everything else I experienced was horrible. For one, the lady I spoke with was very abrasive and unfriendly. I was looking for the game Robinson Crusoe which they had in stock. I almost fell out of my chair though when she listed me the price, a whole $20 more than any other place I looked up. Then when I asked if she would price match she boldly stated NO! Thanks but I'll take my business elsewhere. Buyer beware. I would only consider them if they carried a game that was hard to find however RC is a game easily found on Amazon, and listed at a reasonable price. read more

Very friendly and inviting. I absolutely enjoy chatting and laughing with Catherine. She's a great businesswoman and very attentive to her customers. I highly recommend this gaming location to everyone I know. The gaming room is so large and she is more than willing to help you with whatever you need. Trust me, most locations will not go out of their way to help their customers.:) read more

Plenty of gaming space, friendly and helpful staff, and a large community. Overall, a pretty good place to game.

fun environment and many players bring old games on certain days to play.

From my experience, it was pretty bad, the store owner is very short tempered and everything seems to bother him. Prize pool for the tournament is horrible and they end it whenever they feel like it. I've gone 3-4 times and its always the same thing, the store owner is bad for his own business. I strongly do not recommend. read more

nice place for games, but im mainly a magic player, and this place's prize payout is pretty bad. 30 dollars for sealed, which you get around 18 dollars for what you pay for, and 12 bucks into the prize pool, only that top 1 and 2nd place gets majority (which doesnt even come out to half of a box (18packs)), while 3-4th place gets around 4 packs each. everyone else gets pretty much nothing. Prize support is very bad for both prerelease and release of dark ascension. 4-1 gets 2 packs? out of more than 30 starting players paying 30 dollars? i did the math, pretty bad, even if you were the price the packs at retail ~4 dollars per pack. not worth the time and patronage. other places are 20$ and have good prize support. wizards even provides prizes in addition also. Just go to franks and sons. guess its why they are a "business" read more