Hex&Co Hobby Shop in Union Square: $15 for 1,000 Games

Hex&Co at 801 Broadway is the downtown branch of a small Manhattan chain that calls itself NYC's local gaming store, and it works as a hobby shop, a café and a public game library under one roof. The Union Square location is open every day from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, takes walk-ins, and charges $15 per player to sit down with a library of over 1000 board games. If you only want to shop, you can walk straight to the shelves and pay nothing to browse.

The official address is 801 Broadway, New York, NY, 10003, which puts the shop on the stretch of Broadway running south from Union Square toward the NYU blocks of Greenwich Village. From the Fourteenth Street–Union Square subway hub, where the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W trains stop, it is a short walk down Broadway. The Eighth Street–NYU station on the R and W is a similar distance from the south.

Hex&Co runs three Manhattan stores in total. Besides this one, there is Hex&Co West uptown on the West Side and Hex&Co East on the Upper East Side. Store credit stays with the store that issued it and cannot move between branches, so if you sell cards or return something here, plan to spend the credit at Union Square. That detail matters more than it sounds for anyone who splits time between uptown and downtown.

The retail wall is the reason this page exists for anyone typing hobby shop into a search bar. Hex&Co describes its stock as one of the largest board game and hobby retail selections in the city, with staff who can point you to a game for a home collection, a new RPG book or a gift for a tabletop fan. Sealed trading card product covers Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, Star Wars Unlimited, Riftbound, Lorcana, Gundam Card Game and Flesh and Blood.

Card players should know that Union Square is the branch that handles singles in person. The shop buys and sells Magic: The Gathering and Riftbound singles at this location, and it keeps an online TCGplayer storefront for Magic singles. Selling a collection works by appointment through the website, and acquisition questions go to magic@hexnyc.com. Every other part of the business is brick-and-mortar only, so board games, RPG books and sealed boxes are bought at the register, not online.

The core service is the open library. Walk-in players pay $15 per person, and that fee covers a table, access to more than one thousand titles, and staff who can answer questions or suggest something for your group size. From Monday to Thursday, excluding holidays, children and students pay $10 per person. Walk-ins have no time limit from Monday to Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, walk-in play is capped at three hours so more groups get a turn.

Bringing your own copy of a game is allowed, but the seating fee still applies, so most people end up pulling something off the shelves anyway. Staff are not always free to teach rules at length, so it helps to choose a game you half know or one with a short rulebook when the room is busy. A quick ask at the front desk about what plays well with four or five people usually gets a fast, specific answer.

The Union Square page is blunt about weekends. Saturday and Sunday bring high visitation, and the store suggests booking through its online reservation portal to guarantee a table without waiting. When every table is taken, the front desk adds walk-in groups to a waitlist and calls your phone when a spot opens, which lets you wander the neighborhood instead of standing at the door. Groups of more than eight are strongly encouraged to reserve.

Reservations start at $17 per person, hold a table for up to three hours, and cover groups of up to twelve. They cannot be made on the same day or over the phone, so a Saturday plan needs to be booked a day or more ahead. Larger events, including the kids birthday parties the company says it specializes in, go through reservations@hexnyc.com. Hex&Co also offers in-house catering, party hosts and private rooms for those bookings.

Food and drink are ordered at the front register, and staff bring the order to your table once it is ready, but there is no full table service. Outside food and drink are not allowed at any Hex&Co store. Paying customers get free Wi-Fi. This fall the chain added new seasonal café drinks across all three locations, so the counter is worth a look even if you came for the shelves.

On weekdays, buying anything from the café gets you free seating and Wi-Fi from opening until five in the afternoon, without the game fee. The shop is clear that this is not a coworking service and that laptop guests may be asked to make room for players once tables fill, which usually happens after 6:30 pm on most weekdays. Weekday mornings and early afternoons are the easy window for a quiet coffee and a rulebook before friends arrive.

Beyond casual play, the calendar is packed with organized events. The site lists Magic: The Gathering nights, Star Wars Unlimited, Riftbound and Sorcery: Contested Realms play, a NYC Pauper League and The NYC Invitational Series for competitive card players. Tickets for TCG events can be transferred to another player but not to a different event, and refunds on TCG product are never offered. Reselling a ticket above its listed price can get it canceled.

Role-playing fans can join professionally run Dungeons and Dragons games for adults, browse active campaigns, or use the RPG group finder and weekly open play to meet a table. Families have their own track, with weekend youth D&D, kids clubs, afterschool enrichment and summer camp programs. Guests under twelve need a guardian aged thirteen or older who can reach their parents, so a group of young teens should plan for that rule.

The location makes Hex&Co easy to fold into a longer afternoon. Union Square Park sits just to the north, and on market days the greenmarket stalls fill its northern and western edges with apples, cider and bread that you can carry home after your game. A block up Broadway, the Strand bookstore is a natural stop for anyone who wants to pair a new board game with a paperback on the same walk.

Heading south brings you into the Greenwich Village side of the neighborhood, with Washington Square Park a short walk west of Broadway and plenty of cheap dinner options around the NYU blocks. A good rhythm is to arrive in the afternoon, play a long game while the room is calm, then step out for dinner before the evening crowd of league players and friend groups arrives with their own plans.

Hex&Co Union Square keeps the same hours all week. Monday 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, Tuesday 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, Wednesday 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, Thursday 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, Friday 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, Saturday 10:00 am to 11:00 pm and Sunday 10:00 am to 11:00 pm. Walk-ins are taken during all open hours as long as tables are free.

Bring a group of three to six for the smoothest walk-in seat, come on a weekday if you want unlimited time at the table, and reserve for any weekend visit. Refunds on retail items are handled case by case, and gift cards are sold for every occasion if you are shopping for someone else. Ask the Karpo APP for a game night plan around Union Square and it can line up dinner and a second stop after you leave.