Versus Games

Pretty Disappointed.
My wife and I traveled all the way in from Dublin (1hr 20 mins) because of all the great Unilocal reviews.
As a former CCG and Comics game store owner, I was excited to find such a highly reviewed shop to spend my surplus income at.
When we got there, the selection was small and focused, but ok.
It looked like there was a decent amount of play area. A large flat panel was on the wall playing a movie.
I used to be a pro-​tour VS player and have been looking for a place to play the relaunched game in the city. They carried the product!
I asked the gentleman behind the counter «Do you have anyone that plays Versus here?»
«I don’t know what that is.» He replied. I pointed to the box. «Are you planning to run sanctioned tournaments/​get the prize packs?»
«You’ll have to ask my boss.» Who obviously wasn’t there.
«Do you have the Defenders expansion in yet?» I asked.
«I’m sorry, I only do Magic.» Now I was starting to get a bit flustered. «I only work the weekends.»
«Can you please look in your system to see if you have it in stock?» I asked him.
«No, we don’t.» No service beyond yes/​no; no bother to check when it might be in or whether I would like to preorder it.
I asked him to price something else, he responded in same fashion. We left.
Dude. It’s your friggin job. Be nice to people, try to actually help them and make it a point to build communities, not keep to only one vertical.
I get that Magic is the cash cow in many shops, but by building multiple communities of games, you’ll do far better than you will with staff who quote «I only know Magic.»
Sadly, I doubt I will return since weekdays are not doable with my schedule.

Went by today (10:30pm, Friday) and they must have closed early, even though we saw the lights on while we were parking :(was really set on buying some new games so a little disappointed that we drove all the way out here for nothing. Please update your store hours if you are not open! Both on Unilocal and your sign outside.

I would recommend coming here for beginners. D is super helpful and all the other employees as well are helpful and happy to be there. I am a magic the gathering player and this place meets all my needs

I’m mostly a board game fan, so I was ecstatic when I heard they were so close to where I live. Their selection is rather limited to the most popular titles shown on Tabletop, but they are decently knowledgeable about their wares. They also had a 25% sale on their board games during the christmas season, which I definitely took advantage of to buy Mysterium (which was the only copy that I could find in the city). You’ll find normal market price for most board games here, nothing absurd.
They also have plenty of table space and seem to be rather open to letting people demo a game before buying. However, the place does get pretty packed (which is a good thing), but mostly of trading card game players (Magic, etc).

I like this shop a lot! When i went in to pick up a game for a friend, I was very impressed with the knowledge of the person working. He gave me a great tip about a Table Top (youtube show) and was all around friendly. My only reasoning for not giving 5 stars — price. I found the games to be very expensive.

I heard about this store while visiting San Francisco and hopped on the L-​Train to get there and check it out myself. Easy to get to, solid selection, and Dee went above and beyond to see that I got everything I wanted — checking the back room twice to make sure I left with everything I came in for. I have never met a game store owner who was more dedicated to customer service.
Based on the other reviews, I’d suggest trying to drop by when they’re not having major events, but I would strongly recommend it as a source for games.

I write this review as a board game player, rather than a Magic: The Gathering player which seems to be what this shop is mainly about. At first I was excited to have a new source of board games in the Sunset, but I’ve been consistently disappointed with the service from D and his employees. Choosing to buy board games from the local store instead of getting them cheaper online is only worth it if the store is willing to talk to you about the games. This store is so deeply rooted in trading card culture that it is nigh impossible to get any help when it comes to board games. And don’t even try if there’s a magic release. It’s pretty normal to have store employees talk to customers for long periods about trading cards, then get annoyed when you ask a question about a game. I prefer to take my business to outfits that seem to want it.

Awesome place, friendly staff, extremely reasonable prices. Only complaint I can think of is that I wish it was closer to where I live!

Great friendly environment for people of all ages. The owner and staff here are very friendly and easy to chat with. Even if you’re here for the first time they try to accommodate you as much as possible and actually make you comfortable. They provide daily events which is awesome since sometimes you can’t make one day, you can hope for another. The tv is usually on either playing movies or sports which is a plus.
Also located around plenty of street parking, and various places to grab food.

I can’t comment on MTG because I don’t play, but that is definitely the focus of this store. They only sell board games from Monday to Thursday. If you go in on the weekend expecting to browse or even buy a specific board game, don’t expect much. The employee working there when my friends and I went made it very clear customers who wanted to buy board games were not welcome. When we asked about a specific game (Dead of Winter, in case you were wondering), we were told they had a copy, but he would not sell it to us or even tell us the price. I gave them three stars because its clear they care very much for their MTG players and merchandise, but if you’re looking for board games, go elsewhere.

Great place! My son goes there all the time and he says they have drafts firing every day.

Versus games is a chill place to play magic. Favorite place to play magic and everyone welcomes you! Friendly service the owner D is super nice XD

The more I come here the more I notice all the little things Dee and his crew do to make sure we are happy customers and gamers. Whether it’s getting the air circulating during a popular tournament, playing cool background music at a pleasant volume during less crowded weeknights, or partnering with neighboring business for food delivery and event space, they make the atmosphere right. My appreciation for Versus has only risen after visiting other stores in the Bay Area for MTG: unfriendly employees, dirty bathrooms, events starting late, etc… don’t expect any of that at Versus. Once they get the buylist online and the web site completed, I’m going to do my trading exclusively with Versus.

Been coming here some more. Even if you aren’t very good at magic, there are other options for you. Also, everyone here is really chill and patient. The owner enforces a no cursing policy even. Great and supportive environment!

Friendly service, large play are for games and really nice Magic drafts! Prices are great, they have tons of singles, soda-​type drinks available and there is almost always a movie playing on the big screen! The employees are very nice and helpful! Thanks guys!

Versus Games is the kind of gaming shop that reminds you it’s okay to be a kid but also reminds you not to be ashamed to be an adult playing games with expensive paper. The owner, Dee, and his staff, keep the place lively and fun. The enthusiasm for sharing their love of strategy and plain simple smiles are exactly what more gaming stores need. The Magic crowd here is phenomenal and everyone should stop in at least once.
What makes Versus great is that for such a small space, it manages to provide a lot in terms of gaming options as well as room. Of course we’re all rooting for the success Dee has made Versus Games and I for one am looking forward to its expansion for bigger events.
A lot of newcomers have shown up coming from the East Coast all the way to Australia. Yet, a few hours at Versus Games and the sense of isolation that the average person in their situation might experience is dispelled. A community that is competitive and friendly is what Dee fosters at Versus Games. It’s a really remarkable experience to see how quickly friendships develop. What other store makes you feel like you’re merely visiting your second home?

Versus is a great place to let your inner nerdy/​geeky self out. Always among peers you have the top board games in the front of the store, ever growing. If you are looking for certain board games they’ll even be able to stock them up for you, and if they are out, they’ll order more for you.
What’s even better than board games is free Magic swag. During pre-​release events which they’ll take pre-​registrations and you get a free pack of sleeves, to protect those brand new cards. Win or lose you’ll even get an extra pack just for participating, and during the event every round they randomly raffle out sleeves, deck boxes and even play mats! It’s the place to play some magic, meet some friends and mostly have some fun.

A friend recommended this store to me when I started playing smash up. I was a bit weary of game stores because of my past experiences walking in one was a bit over whelming.
When I walked in, the staff was so friendly. I was greeted with a friendly hello even thought he was busy. He took a couple of minutes to explain the game I was interested in. He seemed excited about the game as well. He excused himself to ring up his customers and thanked me for my patience. He also recommended different games to me and told me when the next gaming night would be if I would like to try it out.
It was great customer service and I would definitely return for my board game needs.

A friend recommended this store to me when they were having a massive sale, and I am SO glad that I checked my phone and decided to go regardless of having just came from a baby shower. Easily one of the best decisions I have made in my life.
I’ve gone to a couple of other places that sell board games and the like around the bay area, and many of them made me feel like I had to prove myself to be in there since I’m a girl. Versus Games was NOT one of those places. They are fantastic. It reminded me of the comic shop I used to frequent before they switched owners. The guy who runs the place is very knowledgable, and even gave us demos of some of the games we were thinking of purchasing. You can tell this guy knows this stuff, as it’s clear that he has played a majority of the games, and he’s friendly and willing to go the extra mile. Even when the shop got busy, he was really good about apologizing even though it was no big deal at all — the boyfriend and I were very taken with the store itself. He even showed us a new game that was really similar to Dominion, and he let us pre-​order it as well. There was one game he didn’t have, but he said most of the time they can get games within 2 days, and he lets you know if a game has been out of stock or hard to obtain. That is some excellent customer service.
The shop looks like it’s mainly geared toward MTG. It’s got a bunch of long tables and it looks like a great place to hang out. The owner informed us that they have game nights pretty much every week. SCORE! They will demo new games on certain days, and I can’t think of a better way to get to know your neighborhood than to have game nights with awesome games, people, and food (the place is right across from Kingdom of Dumpling).
I can’t wait to go back! A warm, friendly environment, filled to the brim with games galore — I recommend this place to gamers of all levels.

This is the first games store I’ve visited in SF, but I can’t see any reason to want to hunt another down.
The staff are friendly and accommodating, and let me know what events were running and when (and guided me to their Facebook page to find them in future), and the player base is both friendly and competitive when it comes to Magic.
The shop is well-​equipped for Magic — there are boosters of all the recent sets in stock, and plenty of singles to choose from. Having drinks and snacks available is definitely a plus, too, so you don’t have to leave just to get some hydration. There are other board and card games available, but M: tG definitely feels the focus.
If I had to state one downside, it would be that there’s not a great deal of room between tables, which can make finding your place during a tournament a bit busy as everyone tries to squeeze past one another. That’s probably just a factor of the limited store space, though, and it certainly isn’t a damning knock against an otherwise excellent venue.