Tabletop Game Shop in Brooklyn, Open Daily: Kings Games

Kings Games at 1685 East 15th Street in Brooklyn is open from 10 am to 8 pm every day of the week, and it has served the Brooklyn gaming community since 2002. This is a tabletop game shop built around trading card tournaments, with Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, Cardfight!! Vanguard and HeroClix as its most popular titles. The site says the shop hosts dozens of events and tournaments every week.

The address is 1685 East 15th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11229, at the corner of Kings Highway. The shop's directions page is specific. From Manhattan, take the B or Q train to the Kings Highway station and use the main Kings Highway exit. You will come out on Kings Highway between East 15th and East 16th Streets. Turn left, walk to the corner, turn left again onto East 15th Street, and Kings Games is the second building from the corner.

Buses help too. The directions page says half a dozen bus lines stop within one to five minutes of the door, including the B68, B49 and B7, and that anything near the corner of Kings Highway and Coney Island Avenue is close enough. Drivers coming from Long Island, Staten Island or New Jersey are told to take the Belt Parkway to the Coney Island Avenue exit, drive down to Avenue R, turn right and then left onto East 15th Street.

The shop is candid about the parking problem. Kings Highway is a very popular shopping area, and the directions page says parking is always somewhat of an issue. A parking garage sits between East 13th and East 14th Streets, between Kings Highway and Avenue R, which the shop puts at a one to two minute walk. Metered parking with a one-hour limit is available in front of the store and on Kings Highway.

That one-hour limit shapes how you visit. If you are only picking up a booster box, the meter is fine. If you are entering a long tournament, use the garage or walk one or two blocks from a side street, as the shop suggests. Taking the B or Q train to the Kings Highway station avoids the problem altogether and puts you a short block from the entrance.

The About page says the shop sells board games, trading card games, miniatures and gaming supplies. The Games We Play page is more focused. It says Kings Games specializes in trading card and miniature games, and it lists Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, Cardfight!! Vanguard and HeroClix as the most popular titles. The shop also says it is always open to trying new games and invites designers and manufacturers to come in and run a demo.

There is an unusual extra. The About page says the shop has a full-blown internet cafe setup and offers faxing, scanning, printing and copying, along with an extensive library of games available to play in the store. It is a neighborhood-shop detail you will not find at a hobby store that only sells sealed product.

The home page links directly to the organized play pages for Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic, Cardfight!! Vanguard and Pokemon, and to constructed deck list forms for Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic and Pokemon. The shop encourages you to print a deck list and bring it with you, and says blank deck list forms will be available at the tournament. A printed list saves you time at the registration table and keeps the first round on schedule.

Weekly events are on the Event Calendar page, with special events posted on the shop's Facebook event page. The shop's Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh! regional information pages are linked from every page. If you are new to organized play, call 718-336-1955 before your first night and ask which game is running that day.

The shop handles in-store single card purchases by request only. The home page has a Single Card Request Form for individual Pokemon or Magic cards, and it says Kings Games is not currently accepting Yu-Gi-Oh! single card requests. You list the quantity of each card, the rarity or version you want, or state that you want the cheapest version available, and the shop sends a price quote by email within about 24 hours.

Once you confirm the quote, the shop will hold the cards for you for up to several days. That is a useful system for a shop with a heavy tournament schedule, because you can plan your trip around a specific pick-up time. If you cannot make it to Brooklyn, the shop also runs an online store for the latest arrivals and rare finds, and you can contact it through its Facebook page with questions.

Come on a weekday when the shop opens at 10 am to browse quietly, then return for an evening event if you want to play. The shop is open to 8 pm every day, so a tournament must fit inside that window. Bring a deck list for constructed events, and use the single card request form on the home page if you want a specific card held for pick-up.

Expect a card shop and not a cafe. The site does not mention a food counter, so eat before you come. For a leisurely board game afternoon, a dedicated board game cafe will suit you better, while Kings Games is the stop for trading card and miniature gaming. Skip it if you only want a boxed family game and no tournament scene, since the specialty here is cards and minis.

Address: 1685 East 15th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11229. Phone: 718-336-1955. Email: ashv@kingsgames.com. Hours: Monday through Friday 10 am to 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 8 pm. Subway: B or Q to Kings Highway. Buses: B68, B49 and B7, among others. Official site: kingsgames.com. Use the Karpo APP to save the shop and find more Brooklyn game stores, card shops and weekend plans before your next tournament.