Super cute and dog friendly games store. Lady at the counter was kind and helpful. I bought a pack of mini poker playing cards. Inside is clean and lots to look at. Very organized. Will definitely be back next time we're in the area! read more

Game Seeker - Toy Stores Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Lots of classic games, puzzles, board games. This place has been here for ages, and for good reason!

It's a niche game store. The clerk was knowledgeable about games and also was willing to help pick a game. They organized the store well by types of games. They have a large selection. I got this new game called "S*** Happens". I'm hoping it's a fun party game. They also have toys and puzzles. Lots of variations of games like Game of Thrones Catan and also Monopolies. read more

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This is a cute little game store that me and my wife stumbled into. We came to Santa Barbara to visit on our honeymoon and the woman running the store was very quick to suggest easy travel sized games that were fun, innovative, and new. We ended up getting some great dice and card games that we've never heard of before. She was very helpful. We love stores that have an equal balance between super nerdy and very easy/accessible games. This one has both, so whatever you're looking for, you'll probably find it here. read more

It was my first time at the store and I was excited to see that the had a variety of great products. I game in search for a gift and I found it. Theo provided a superior customer experience. I'll come in again for my game needs. I highly recommend this establishment. read more

I've been patronizing this store for over 10 years, buying a game nearly every time I'm in Santa Barbara. This was my first visit since covid. I hope they will take a couple suggestions: (1) When a customer (not me) is making a purchase and asks the employee (who said he was related to the owner) to put a mask on, it is common courtesy these days to do so. "I forgot my mask at home" is not a good excuse. There should be masks available in the store for employees at all times. (2) I was surprised when we learned that the game Hive is one of the top sellers that the employee had never played it. Usually I'm used to the employees knowing the games like the back of their hands. I bought one as a gift but might have purchased a second or a different game, but I didn't get any suggestions that fit - a first time for that. read more

Bought guesstures for $30. Find out it's $8 on prime and Walmart. Also when we got home the game is defective and doesn't work. This store and the game sucks read more

XD I love the lady who runs the counter! She has such an enthusiastic personality! She let me open this HUGE container of plastic miniature animals, pour them on the counter and pick what I wanted. She also has all the newest board games (like Rick and Morty) and has decent pricing. If you're looking for something particular, call them and see if they have it or can order it. There's not many game stores now a days so always support your local store! Thanks again my love for the wonderful service! My animals are still on my desk ;) read more

Game Seeker - Toy Stores Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

HUGE ANGRY BIRD STUFFED ANIMAL FOR $50! That is all. No not really, but that was SO awesome! They have a huge selection of angry birds toys, including the new Halloween toys, and quite literally HUGE angry bird toys that were probably half the size of me! They had the mighty eagle and the original red angry bird; however, never having seen them come in that size, that was amazing. They also have a whole wall full of board games which was pretty awesome, and little trinkets here and there. This is definitely a FUN store, as it's name implies, and is a very very good stroll when you're hanging out on State! read more

Dave is very knowledgeable about all the games he carries (which are MANY) and a real joy to chat with. Ask about Gobblet - there's a demo board to play with and Dave will gladly teach you how to play and take you through a warmup round. When we went the store was fairly busy and Dave did a great job of floating between customers, explaining games to them, and making recommendations. This isn't just a store for gamers. It's a place for people who love exploring new things and having a memorably amazing customer service experience. read more

Game Seeker - Try Gobblet! - Toy Stores Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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What a great surprise! It was my son's birthday and I wanted to take him to an actual toy store to pick a toy rather than ordering online, and I'm glad I found game seeker. I love supporting small businesses like this and really appreciate the passion & helpfuness if its manager! She knew all her board games and was able to advise me really well. The selection is good. Price is about the same as Amazon, maybe a bit more but you get great service and support brick n mortar which to me is priceless. read more

This place is awesome. Large selection of board games and the person behind the counter was very knowledgeable and super helpful. He listened to what I was looking for and had several excellent recommendations. Been having a lot of fun with the games we got from here, stop and look around if you get the chance. read more

This store has a ton of different games packed into a small space. I'm amazed at the variety in their selection. There are games here for everyone, from serious board gamers to families looking for casual fun. They also have the best puzzle selection in town. The people who work here are all very knowledgeable about both games in general and their stock. I'll definitely be coming here the next time I want to get a game. read more

I purchased a couple of games to send to my brother in Folsom, CA. They were very accommodating in making arrangements to special order one of the games and to ship them out. Then, it turned out that I had given them the wrong address and even though this was my error, they worked with me every step of the way over a 2 week period to track down the packages and make sure they got sent to the correct address. Wonderful experience! Would highly recommend them! Thanks, Game Seeker! read more

This place does have good games, unfortunately the service we received was terrible!! I couldn't believe we were treated so poorly. We walked in looking for a certain game. First, no one was at the register & it seemed as though no one was working (we could understand that if the worker was helping someone or something like that). There was a group of people talking animatedly & playing a card game near the back of the store so my husband politely said "Excuse me, do one of you work here?" We were answered by Nick who stated "Yeah, I do." and promptly turned back to his conversation. We then asked, do you have [the game we were looking for] and he said, "Yeah, behind the register." and again turned back to his conversation. We walked to the register, he finally came over and was very curt and condescending as we were being checked out. I like this place and have had some good experiences, but Nick made coming here an awful experience! It was so bad that when we need a game again, we'll be taking our business elsewhere! read more

I am stuck with very mixed feelings about this place. In the one hand the clerk was super nice and helpful, AFTER he finished his 20 minute phone call. It was an important call, so I don't fully fault him for that. I was also pretty disappointed with the selection here. Maybe it is just my preference, but they only had 1 game that I actually went on here to buy. Rampage- nope, formula d- nope, zombicide season 2- nope. I would have easily spent twice as much as I did. As it was I had to force myself to buy $75 worth to use the Yelp deal. I will be back and try again. read more

AVOID THIS PLACE!!! Called 45 min before and was told they would hold a copy of a game I needed for a birthday present. Been looking for 2 weeks for it. Drove 45 min to pick it up and the kid at the register ends up smiling at me and says, sorry we must have sold it to someone else... read more

We always stop for game stores, and this one didn't disappoint. It's small, but who can afford to have a large store in SB. They had a little bit of everything. I bet if it's not there, they can probably get it for you if you ask. read more

They have a great game selection. They have games for all different interests and levels. Looking for something super casual and mainstream like Battleship or Connect 4? They should have it! Looking for something a little more nerdy like Magic the Gathering cards? They should have it! Are you interested in something super nerdy and obscure like Lords of Waterdeep or Dominion? They should have it! Looking for the game by the latest Spiel des Jahres Kennerspiel Winner? They should have it! While they can't match the prices you'll find for most of the games online, it's always great to support the local game store, especially when they have a friendly and knowledgeable staff that has been fairly good with game recommendations (I only say fairly good because I still haven't really forgiven them for recommending that dud of a game, Dungeon Run). If there was only one thing that I wish, is that this place was bigger! read more

This was a great experience. They had many, many games for a geek like me to enjoy and the Yelp deal of getting $75 for $50 was amazing. My wife and I love stores like this and we will definitely be back again. I just hope they pick up a few expansions for some of the games there so we can get them there too! read more

Game stores are like bookstores, few and far between. Finding a good one is rare. The Game Seeker has a great selection, and their staff is really friendly and helpful. I've only gone in there to find Dominion, and they had most of the expansions, but not all. Like many independent stores, The Game Seeker's prices are more expensive than online (e.g. the Dominion base and Intrigue set retails for $44.99 in store and I found it online for $29.99). So, you have to decide whether you want to support a local business and buy something immediately or pay less and wait a few days for delivery. They have a Yelp Deal going on now - pay $50 for $75. The $25 saved helped make up the difference in online prices. However, without the deal, I probably wouldn't have bought it because the online savings are too great. read more

Games classic and new, American and European. Puzzles, including a large selection of challenging jigsaw. Cards. Good selection of games to please all gamers. Sorry, not the video type. Pluses: Killer Bunnies, Settlers of Catan, Power Grid, Rumis, Ticket to Ride... and MORE. Sure, it small, but the displays make it easy to move around people and see what you're looking at. They have a good selection for being so small. And it's the only game store in town. Don't let it go away, like so many other shops are on this stretch. The didn't have what we were looking for, but the shop keeper really wanted to get us what we wanted. "I'll have it by Friday." We declined to stay in SB til the end of the week, but she gave excellent advice and we did find some new games! read more

It's a small store, but the staff is pleasant (even when the store is crowded), and there's a good selection of somewhat hard to find board games (american & other). This store is mainly for the stuff you can't find at Toys R Us (you know, challenging board games for grown ups). There's also novelty items & such. I was happy to see they carried Puerto Rico & it's expansion :) read more

This store offers a wonderful selection of games, but where it really shines is its service. The clerk who was on duty when we stopped by was exceptionally helpful, and suggested a range of games our kids might enjoy based on what I told her were their past favorites. Our kids seized the opportunity to try out some of the games on display, and I found a couple of new games to take home. It's not as large as many game stores we've visited, but we really enjoyed our visit and were impressed with what we found. read more

Very adorable little game shop. As all game shops do, the exciting atmosphere from the board games is paired with strange classical music. Came in here looking for Bang! (but only found the extended version :'( ) The shopkeeper was extremely nice and helpful. We asked for suggestions based off of games we liked (Monopoly Deal, Phase 10, Bang!, Mafia) and he suggested a game similar to Mafia (Resistance) which turned out to be an extremely addicting game. Though it's small this store is filled to the brim with goodies :) Will definitely be back! read more

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I used to live in Santa Barbara but moved before this store opened. I'd come back to visit friends about every three months - and The Game Seeker was always on my list of places to go; bought at least one game every visit! All of the staff (especially the Irish guy) have been very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. I honor the owner's opinions even though I don't always agree with him; the recommendations of his that I have followed have always come true! Now that I live in Alabama, my visits are much less common, but The Game Seeker will STILL be on my list of places to visit (and spend money)! read more

You know how you can tell you have a good staff? When they get excited talking to you about their product. Every time I have visited, the people working there just light up when I ask questions or for a suggestion. Really cool place with a nice selection of board games (for me) and puzzles (for the girlfriend). read more

Great store. The selection is outstanding and the employees enjoy talking about the stuff they sell. A few weeks ago I walked into the store intending to kill time while I waited for some friends. I wasn't planning on buying anything. The cashier and I started talking about Dominion, and I ended up buying an expansion set. He was, like, the best salesperson ever. I wanted to get his phone number and invite him to join my gaming circle, but I was too embarrassed to ask. My point is that this place is b@da$$, and I always have fun when I'm there. Five stars. read more

Love this place! Great games, awesome location and friendly service! read more

The store is nice but the exchange policy is terrible. If the game you buy from this shop is broken when you initially buy it, expect to have a hard time exchanging it for one that works....or maybe that's just me. Owner was rude and hung up on me when asking what my options were. I feel I was polite in our exchange and did not deserve to be hung up on, but that's my side of the story. I guess the customer is not always right at this store. I will not be coming back to this shop which is a bummer because I prefer to shop at local stores. read more

The store itself is great. The guy behind the counter not so much... my 8 year old was amazed by the cool stuff in the store. He found a really cool looking marble that her dropped. He apologized but the guy just kept telling gin how wrong he was fir doing that. My kid left crying. I continued to look however the clerk came back and continued on about the marble and how he shouldn't have dropped it. I told him i was sorry thst my 8 year old cracked a 2 dollar marble. He just wouldn't let it go so i had to leave too. No $$$ from me. read more

This place is pretty much as good as it gets for game stores. Great selection of everything from Candyland to Settlers of Catan. Great selection of puzzles as well! Friendly and knowledgeable staff who will play games and suggest stuff you might have never found on your own. All in all, this place is just awesome if you even remotely like games. read more

Ok, we went in with a specific game in mind. Rome is a board game that my boyfriend played a couple times in college and has been hunting for ever since. We browsed a bit before the clerk came out and asked if we needed service. He was Scottish possibly? He had a thick accent that was similar to a Scott but also sounded a bit South African....weird combo I know. Anyways, he was hilarious. When my bf said, "can i ask you a question?" the clerk said...."no, but she can. she is much cuter". we laughed but he was looking right at me.....so he was serious. I asked him about Rome and even though it has been out of print for years and years, he not only knew exactly what we were talking about, he also pulled up eBay and other sites that we could try to find it. Basically.....its now a collectible, so Its a little out of budget right now, but at least we now know exactly who to ask for obscure games! read more

Fantastic shop. Megan, one of the associates, was extremely helpful and enthusiastically knowledgeable about all of their games. Ask her about "gobbles". read more

Excellent game shop with a great selection of games from family and kid friendly to adult strategy games for those wanting a challenge. The staff is very helpful in making suggestions and knowledgeable about their many products. We had an issue with a very rare instance of a brand new Catan box missing cards and the staff and owner were exceptional in resolving the issue right away. We will absolutely be making all future game purchases in the SB area at this store. read more

They have a great selection of really cool board games for a reasonable price, and the nicest people working there. I would highly recommend it. read more

This is how a game store should be ran! The staff was very knowledgeable and helped me select the perfect game after asking a ton of questions and being very picky with what I was looking for. They didn't miss a beat and where able to find exactly what I was looking for. Although their game selection isn't very large, they make up for it in knowledge of games. Would definitely recommend this store to everyone. read more

Great little board game shop! Had all the Munchkin games I had been looking for. The shopowner guy is hilarious and if you go in you MUST ask him about Jessica Alba. read more

Every time I come in here just to browse I end up buying something. The employees here are really cool, and have even opened up games on occasion to demo them for us. Really good selection of games that is very well organized. I find it better then shopping for games online because the staff is really knowledgeable and helps us find exactly what we are looking for. read more

My husband and I were on our honeymoon in Santa Barbara and was staying in the hotel next door. Being nerds, we decided to buy a fun game to play. Lisa was a great help when we chose our board game and she even gave us a suggestion to where we should go for lunch to play our game, The Boat House. Thanks a lot! read more