Consistently good service and an excellent play space. I would say it has been the most stable of…read moregame stores I have encountered in my many years of visiting them. Staff is known and helpful.

Love coming to this store they have great service and good prices, huge selection of board games…read moreand cards! Always support local stores.

MYSTIC SNOW TRADING sells a good variety of Pokemon singles and boxes. The prices are reasonable…read morecompared to most competitors. There is plenty of free parking in a shared lot. The card shop is on the 2nd level of the building, and they don't have a sign outside. The employee was very friendly and helpful. She was also very patient with us when we asked a hundred questions. They do tournaments, and it's best to book it ahead of time. They have some trading card vending machines near the entrance. Overall, it's a nice place.

When my regular card shop was closed and it was a 3-day weekend, I found Mystic Snow Trading…read morethrough a Google search. Finding the entrance was kind of confusing but once you realize where you are in the building, return visits are easy. I came in looking for Chaos Rising boosters and the staff working was incredibly nice, professional, and knowledgeable. Even though I was there for Chaos Rising, I couldn't help myself to browsing through what they had. The options in sets were better than some other local card shops I've seen and either at or slightly below market. I am glad I took the drive to check this place out. Definitely coming back!

So we went in, looking for some Pokémon cards, and walked out with some gems to add to my…read morecollection. I only paid 2 bucks for five cards! What a great deal for, artist specific TCG cards! Great selection, service and chill environment!

I wanted to purchase 2 Pokémon card singles I saw at the store. They didn't have any price tags, &…read moreI asked If I could buy them for $230. I also matched the full market price from online. Nothing was decreased. The male worker with glasses' first words were: "Dude, no hagglers allowed." & he speed-walked away back to his computer. At the time, I had no idea what "hagglers" meant. I thought he judged how we looked. (I'm 19 & Asian.) His attitude was a bit rude. I'm not sure if he had a bad day. Very unprofessional. I would have been fine if he had simply said "no" or "sorry, I can't do offers." But the cards had no price tags, & he didn't give me the price he wanted. My little sister & I left the store after that interaction. We've been to many shows & stores & all had positive conversations. It's our first time we got called a name with negative association. Will share a vlog of the interaction here & on my socials. Open to discuss to understand.

This is one of the best hidden gems in the Bay Area for a board game afternoon. The collection is…read moremassive, with every genre and skill level covered, and the upkeep is genuinely impressive: every single card is individually sleeved in plastic, so the games always feel brand new. The space is spotless, well-organized, and the staff make you feel instantly welcome. They've also got snacks and drinks on hand, so there's zero reason to leave once you've settled in. Needless to mention, unlike almost any other board game cafe in the Bay Area, they don't charge you just to sit and play. On top of that, they have a huge collection of comic books, board games, and comics-related items and artifacts available to purchase, so it's easy to walk out with more than you came in for. I love this place so much that it's always hard for me to leave. They close at 7 PM on weekends, and every single week, I find myself wishing I had just a little more time before heading out. If you want a calm, genuinely fun way to spend an afternoon, this is the spot in the entire Bay Area.

The energy here is IMMACULATE. Wonderful staff -- friendly, ridiculously knowledgeable, inclusive,…read moreand accommodating. Inventory is really thoughtful, they have a fantastic selection of anything a nerdy heart could desire. Definitely recommend. My fiance also comes here for MtG events, and he has nothing but glowing things to say about this place.

My Favorite Card shop in the Bay Area. I play One Piece here alot and the atmosphere and vibes are…read morealways great. Staff are always friendly and tentative with any of your needs. Ac is always on and it's really clean in there also. They have a great selection of cards and a good prices also. Will forever be a customer here.

Another one of my favorite card shops in the area. Johnny is super cool and fun to talk to about…read moreMTG. Very knowledgeable and welcoming. The store also has dozens of arcade machines upstairs ! Highly recommend for TCG, arcade games, and good vibes.

We come here for Magic and Pokemon. They have better prices than most places around the Bay Area…read more However, staff isn't the most helpful tbh. If you want good priced TCG, come here but don't expect to great customer service.

Priced way over market! Picked these two up but costed me over $1K! My fault for not checking what…read morethe market was, way overpriced. This store used to be my go-to when prices were fair and below market. I was trusting they were being reasonable but $150 or so over market for the collector booster box was jacked up. Not sure what happened but everything in the store is wayyy over market now it's ridiculous. Yes it's release day weekend also but that's no excuse for these messed up prices. Also the guys working at the counter always seem like I'm bothering them just to buy something. Very unwelcoming vibe, like just buy something and get out my face is the impression I get. Lastly the smell was...quite ripe but it could just be the store full of people playing magic and well go figure.

The amount of collector booster boxes keeps me coming back. I loved my interaction between Son and…read moreEnrique, I hope to see them every time I show up at the store.

Great vibes (and prices)! I love coming in for Lorcana nights. Their staff is super friendly and…read moreknowledgeable in their many tcg options.

My favorite board game shop!! Whenever I travel, I try to check out all the board game shops I can,…read moresince they're so few and far between. Illusive is just unmatched. The customer service, the vibe, and the selection are all sooo good. I got into board games about a year ago, and discovering that you can play games for free in-store or rent from their huge selection for a small fee was a game changer. It really helped me and my partner figure out what kinds of games we liked before committing to a purchase. Every time I'm in, or whenever I have questions, the employees are so accommodating and kind. You can tell they genuinely know their stuff about every game they carry. They're also dog friendly, inclusive, creating a really welcoming community that i really appreciate!

I moved from Sacramento to Santa Clara recently for work. This store has the largest space I've…read moreseen for players in Santa Clara (from what I've seen) whether it's tabletop or to play a card game. I came in an hour before closing. As soon as I walked in, I was immediately greeted. They asked if I was looking for anything and was shown to the card sleeve section. I've been to multiple stores that specialize in cards. Why was this the ONLY place where I found a large assortment of card sleeves for players!! Lol I met Anna(?) or Ann, and customer service was amazing, gave all information I was asking for, and showed me the weekly schedule. I am more of a mega competitive player (but not a sore winner ;-)), so I wanted to know what their schedule looked like, what is their most supported game, etc. I believe this is a more chill, casual, friendlies kind of vibe (not a bad thing at all), and I'd be open to doing more drafts or pre-release kits or something. Hoping to bring in my coworkers and friends! I can tell that they care very much about making sure they can support their community and create an inclusive and healthy space. Masks are not a big deal for me, they're effective especially nowadays with allergies, new viruses, whatever lol Lots of different card games in stock and tabletop games for rent, a cute dog and a big space for players.. but what really made things great was speaking with Al about Witch Hat Atelier. I've been to a lot of comic book stores, and I'll see the "Favorite Picks", but that's about it. Al and I talked about it, we went through the art, explained the intro, and it really brought me in. Al's passion for stories really made me want to look at this series. I didn't buy it, but I can honestly say that I'd love to come back to the store to find out what the next big thing is Al will share with me. I can sense that these folks are passionate, accommodating, and personable. Hoping for further successes!

I was worried going in, because 1.) I have a very low opinion of the current culture surrounding…read moreretro gaming, collecting, and reselling. It's really disgusting how 80% of people in the hobby are larping manchildren that are no better than TCG resellers. 2.) I find that retro game shops across the US are generally really terribly ran with insane pricing, dirty interiors, bad selection, and rude staff. I'm happy to say that Gameshop Downstairs is the SOLE EXCEPTION. Their staff are very polite and genuinely want to help you find what you're looking for, even when swamped with customers on a busy day. Their selection is unlike anything I have seen in any game shop in the entire NorCal region, especially for late 2000s-2010s era games such as Wii, DS, and 3DS. I also appreciate that they have a wide selection of DVDs and BluRays - old anime, movies, and cartoons alike. They even regularly stock CRTs, and while a bit expensive, they do in fact sell at fair market price. On that note, their pricing is extremely fair, and even the more contentious pricing I saw was actually on the dot with fair market pricing when checking online. Even if some things are slightly marked up, I think they easily make up for it with the sheer amount of stuff they carry. I can't emphasize enough how good their collection is, I spent a whole hour here. The museum is really cool too. The mix of 80s-90s and 2000s-2010s gear made it a perfect trip for my Dad & I, since that represents the generations of technology we grew up with respectively.

If you're looking for a piece of nostalgia or to walk down memory lane of your childhood, this is…read moredefinitely a place that you would want to check out. They have new school, old school video game, consoles games, movies and Pokémon cards. I just wish that they were open on Sundays. Service is friendly but parking at times can be a bit difficult since it is on a busy street in downtown San Jose. Definitely recommend checking them out and supporting this business.

I came here to see if there's anything I would want for myself or more importantly, if there's…read moreanything my fiancée would like. I came across a 1000 piece Mario Kart puzzle. I contacted her immediately to see if she'd like this so that we can do a puzzle together especially since she loves Mario. She instantly said yes. I purchased it and she was delighted. The staff seemed busy though and was barely able to assist me with checkout. A lot of people were inquiring about individual, packs, and boxes of TCG games so staff became very busy really quick. At the same time, there were TCG locals happening at the same time. I get it.

Always great staff, very organized events everytime I visit the store. Awesome environmentread more