Game World

Game World is a locally owned video game store on South College Mall Road in Bloomington, Indiana, where the card offering is a sideline to a much larger business in games, consoles and collectibles. It suits Pokémon collectors who want sealed booster packs from a neighborhood shop, and anyone with a stack of old video games to move. Singles and trade-in card buying are not part of the picture, so this is a place to buy sealed product, not to build a deck or sell a binder.

What's on the shelves

The core of the store is video games, consoles and accessories, from retro to modern, alongside Funko Pops, collectible figures, plush, Blu-rays and DVDs. Pokémon is the one card game carried. The cards come as sealed booster packs, with Elite Trainer Boxes now and then when they are in stock, and no singles. Japanese Pokémon sets are carried too, though what is on hand varies from store to store, so a phone call before a trip is the sensible move.

The store buys, sells and trades, and its stock turns over daily as customers bring items in. Across all of the chain's locations it holds more than 30,000 items. Everything that comes in is cleaned, and game discs are run through a disc repair machine. Resurfacing for scratched games, DVDs, Blu-rays and other compatible discs costs $2.99 per disc, with no appointment needed.

Trade-ins and store policies

Trade-ins here cover video games, consoles, accessories, DVDs, Blu-rays, Funko Pops, strategy guides, Nintendo Power magazines and game memorabilia. Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering cards are not accepted, and neither are comic books.

• ID and age: A physical government-issued photo ID is required. Temporary licenses and photos of licenses do not count. Sellers must be 16 or older for store credit and 18 or older for cash.
• Cash or credit: Store credit is typically about 25% more than the cash offer, never expires, and can be turned into a gift certificate for someone else. Once credit is chosen, it cannot be converted to cash.
• No appointment: Trades are walk-in, and the store stops accepting them an hour before closing. Large collections can be dropped off for a call-back quote, and declined items are held for 14 days.
• Consoles: Missing accessories lower the payout rather than ending the deal, and staff factory reset any console they buy.
• Final trades: Once a trade is complete, it is final.

Pokémon trading card booster packs, Elite Trainer Bundles and Booster Bundles cannot be returned. Most other items carry a 15-day return policy, extendable to 90 days or six months on select items. Items can be reserved for one day if the request is made on the day the item is eligible for sale, at the store manager's discretion, and handheld Pokémon games and several older consoles are typically not held. Gift cards come in $25, $50 and $100 amounts or a custom value.

Hours and getting there

The store sits at 919 S College Mall Rd in Bloomington.

The store is in The Shoppes in Bloomington, in the center of the strip, directly ahead as you pull into the parking lot.

History

This was the first Game World location, opening in 2009, and it has moved between a few different spaces within The Shoppes over the years. The independent chain now has three stores: this one and a second on West 3rd Street in Bloomington, plus an Indianapolis location that opened on July 2nd, 2024. The company is independent and pays no franchise fees.

The local scene

Bloomington has several other card and game shops within a couple of miles, which makes a card-focused afternoon easy to plan. The Game Preserve and Hi5 Cards and Collectibles are within about three-quarters of a mile, and Common Room Games is about 1.1 miles away. For shows, the Indy Sports Card Show is about 44 miles away and next starts on November 7, 2026. Collectors Palooza 2026 is about 50 miles off and starts November 15, and the Lebanon, IN Card Show, about 60 miles away, begins the same day.