This store is awesome - I was visiting Victoria/Courtenay/Vancouver Island, and this store is so…read moreunique and charming. It's got a fantastic ship decor and it's not just a kid's store - it's sure to entertain any age. I got a modern glow-in-the-dark frisbee, and it's helping my husband and I get exercise. I also found out about the card game "Exploding Kittens" here. Seriously, you need to check it out!

a cool store but with unfriendly staff. we've gone in here a few times as we love to shop locally…read moreand love toys! we've never been greeted warmly upon going in the store. and heaven forbid you say you're just browsing. the vibe gets chillier by the minute. it's a toy store people! lighten up please! it should be the funnest store to visit in courtenay!

Love the careful selection of books and toys for kids of all ages!! I can never leave with just one…read morething...the puppets are incredible!

I am a kid at heart and love walking into toy stores. I love buying things for my niece and nephew…read more The store is well organized, lots of types of toys for both boys and girls. The prices are decent and the lady working there was very sweet and helpful.

I am amazed by the lack of engagement I received when I was in the store, I felt like Julia Roberts…read morewhen she entered high fashion stores to be snubbed at. I felt like I was an inconvenience to the employees. Friendly reminder to be engaging and friendly to everyone, you have no idea who might be your next loyal customer! I also see that you don't engage in positive reviews, but the response you give is to a negative review and you post it publically, which I believe is very unprofessional. Remember to engage with those who give you positive reviews, after all, they are your bread and butter!

Stopped here very quickly while waiting for the ferry to Quadra Island. We had forgotten to bring…read morecard games for camping, so I ran in, saw The Oatmeal's Exploding Kittens, and thought, 'Yes!!' I grabbed it from the shelf where it was on level with toys by Melissa & Doug, and other such things. It was on a shelf in small children's reach. When I got back to the car, my 9.5 year old son took one look and said, 'You got the wrong one.' Sure enough, it was the NSFW version. I said, 'Maybe it's only sorta NSFW?' then looked it up. It's definitively NOT just sorta NSFW. While I love The Oatmeal, and have loved playing the SFW version, this was definitively 'the wrong one' for family play. So, I figured that we would be coming back through Campbell River on the way back from camping, and we could return it then, because it seemed incomprehensible that a place with 'Wise and Wonderful' in its title, decorated in pastels and cute owls and CLEARLY aimed at children would have sold this to me on purpose, stored it at children's eye-level, and not said 'you know this is the NSFW version'. So, we timed our ferry to get there when the store was still open on Sunday, and even had to send my partner ahead from Quadra as a foot passenger, because we couldn't get the car there on time. BUT! When she arrived to return it (or we would have happily taken the SFW version, had it been in stock), the clerk met the request with a flat refusal and a smirk as my partner explained what happened and kindly asked whether the clerk was aware that they had accidentally gotten something inappropriate for children onto their shelves. Further questions about whether there was a SFW version in stock, whether their might be more soon, and whether the store might be willing to arrange to have it shipped to us as our "exchange instead of refund" got more smirks and monosyllabic responses. I understand that they have a no-return policy, especially for played-with items, and, having been a small business owner, I do understand that it is a disappointment when people want to return things. I can even understand that their no refund policy is a decision that they have made (though a short-sighted one, from my perspective, especially in the day and age of on-line shopping), but there is no way that a store catering to children should even have this product out on their accessible shelves and without clear signage, let alone refuse to recognize that they had made an error in doing so. It took a phone call with me, and eventually with the manager to get us a refund, but the attitude throughout was snotty, and at no point recognizing that, while I was in a rush, it was their responsibility to shelve their merchandise in a responsible fashion and that it was a reasonable thing for a parent to have grabbed the wrong version and to be requesting a refund if an appropriate exchange wasn't in stock. Even when I said to the clerk that she had sold me pornography as a family game (hilarious pornography, but lewd just the same), she refused to refund. Only requesting that she called her manager eventually got us a refund (which i had to ask her a second time to do) and even that was done with one more admonition to my partner for insisting on having an exception made on the return policy. The manager/owner might do well to remember that in a world where online ordering is growing rapidly, it's a wise and wonderful idea to empower employees of brick and mortar stores with the ability to make nuanced decisions and to work with people instead of reciting return policies robotically and repeatedly at them. In response to the owner's defensive/aggressive reaction, I have the following to add: Dear ma'am, the only word I used that could possibly be described as 'profane' was the word 'pornography', which I used to describe why I was unhappy with the product. You have proven my point: that if it's inappropriate to say the word in the store (or through the phone to an employee of the store), it's inappropriate to be selling it there. I am not interested in any more conversation with you. I merely wished to warn any other potential customers as I wish I had been warned.

My husband and I woke up to rain on Sunday, we decided a family games day would be fun. We went to…read morethe mall to find something to go home and play. We went to Mind Games. We're new to Nanaimo and had never even heard of it. We were immediately (Covid safe rules being followed 100% by both employees on shift) welcomed in the store, the male employee helped us with several questions, and came up with a few cool games for us to play He went above and beyond. Super friendly and helpful. The female employee at the till advised their electronic payments were down, she politely asked if I minded going to am ATM in the mall. I had no issue with that, we got cash, came back and paid for the games. The female employee then gave me $3 cash and said this is for the $3 ATM fee you had to pay to get cash. My mouth dropped, wow. I was amazed they would even think of that, and actually refund It to me. Needless to say: we were so impressed with the products in the store, how clean the store was, the customer service shown by both employees, we will definitely be back often, and pass the word on to others. Way to go Mind Games!!!

I was an employee before they shut down and reopened, for context. They laid us off with no sort of…read moreseverance, expecting the old team to stay with the company (telling us all not to look for new jobs), and was promised that we would be contacted about being rehired as soon as they reopened. No effort was made on this. Additionally, prices are absurd. But they blame it on the market fluctuations. This is wildly incorrect. The markups are done for 100% profit and are not considered with the going market, especially for children's card games. Lastly, all security cameras are live videos. The store doesn't have access to this. The only ones who do are corporate, where they spy on workers and make sure they are doing "the right things." Many times I would be demoing product for customers, where they would then call the store and yell at me for not working. Don't support this company. They exploit both employees and their customers.

We were thrilled to find this hidden gem in Qualicum on 2nd avenue. It is a terrific toy store with…read moregreat inventory and great prices. No need to look at box stores for puzzles and games when this shop is just around the corner. Looking for games puzzles or even children's clothes, stop by. The service is exceptional! #5 211 2nd avenue.

From the owner: At The Qualicum Toy Shop on Vancouver Island, we take pride in stocking our shelves with the toys…read moreand games that we would want to play with ourselves. We keep our eyes open for the finest (and funnest!) toymakers. Come in to check out one of the best Toy Stores on Vancouver Island.