D20 Games

D20 Games is a tabletop game store at 1502 Park St. in Alameda, built around Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, tabletop roleplaying games and board games. It reopened under new management in August 2011 and now operates from its fourth location, the largest it has had. It suits Magic players who want a room that hosts competitive events, and Dungeons & Dragons groups who want space of their own.

What's on the shelves

The store focuses on games that don't go beep: tabletop roleplaying games, trading card games and board games, all chosen by the staff. Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon are the two card games carried, with sealed product for each. Dungeons & Dragons gets its own stock, covering books, dice and accessories. The range also takes in miniatures and miniatures games, card and dice games, pins, stickers, apparel and snacks.

Magic players who want a ready-made deck can buy one through the store's Buy a Deck feature, and loot bags are put together for Pokémon, Magic and Dungeons & Dragons. Gift certificates are available, and the store takes Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay.

Organized play and events

The larger space has allowed bigger Magic events than before, and the store now hosts Regional Championship Qualifiers. Release weekends are a regular fixture: a Secrets of Strixhaven prerelease ran from April 17 to 19, and The Hobbit prerelease weekend began on August 7. The Hobbit set has one of the shortest lifespans of the year, so weekly Hobbit drafts run from August 14 until the next set arrives. That set, Reality Fracture, has prerelease events on September 25.

Space and layout

The current location has separate side rooms for Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop roleplaying games, so campaigns are not competing for table space with Magic events in the main room. The store has become one of the Bay Area's regular stops for tabletop players, and the move to a bigger building is what made the dedicated roleplaying rooms and the larger tournament schedule possible.

History

The store has been operating since 2011, when it reopened under new management. The Park St. address is the fourth location the store has occupied, and it is the biggest to date.

Getting there

The store is at 1502 Park St. in Alameda.

The local scene

Alameda has several other game and card shops nearby. The Experience Share Video Games is about 1.4 miles away, and Destine Fantasy Games and Alameda Sports Cards and Comics are each about 2 miles away. In Oakland, Endgame is about 3.1 miles away.