Geek City Games And Toys

Geek City Games And Toys is a game store in Williamsburg, Iowa, at 1991 Odonnell Rd, built around board games, card games, miniatures and pen-and-paper RPGs. Magic: The Gathering is the card game with a regular weekly event, a casual Commander night on Thursdays. It suits players who want a clean, family-friendly room to sit down and play, and shoppers looking for a deep board game selection and sealed Magic product rather than a singles counter.

What's on the shelves

The store aims to be an all-in-one spot for board games, card games and tabletop RPGs, with more than 1,000 game titles in stock. Magic: The Gathering product covers all current sets plus a few older ones, and Commander pre-constructed decks are on hand. Other card games have a presence too: One Piece TCG has its own night, and new sealed Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! product is sold.

The store does not buy Pokémon, Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh! cards as trade-ins, so it is a place to buy sealed product and play, not to unload a collection. Comics were dropped in early 2023, and video games are not sold.

Weekly play

Thursday is Commander night, a casual event with randomly awarded prizes when the store is able. Players need to bring their own deck or buy a pre-made one from the store. Proxies are allowed by the store, though it is polite to ask fellow players first.

Play runs until about 8 PM, and the room holds a maximum of 35 players, with seats first come, first served.

Other nights cover other games. Mondays are tabletop miniatures night, usually Star Wars Shatterpoint and Marvel Crisis Protocol. Fridays are the main night for One Piece TCG and also the release event day for new Magic and One Piece product. Board game nights, Dungeons & Dragons and Friday Night Magic round out the regular schedule.

Organized play and events

Nearly all major Magic set releases get a sealed-format prerelease the week before the set is on sale. The next set is Star Trek, with its prerelease on November 6, 2026 and release on November 13, 2026. After that come Nauctis - The Sunken Realm on February 5, 2027, Darkhold Destiny on April 9, 2027, Kamigawa Titanbreach on June 4, 2027 and Zhalfir in October 2027. The store also holds game demos fairly often and takes part in local conventions.

Store policies

Playing in the store carries a table fee of $5 plus tax per person for the whole day, which includes access to the demo library and a choice of table space. That is the same fee that covers Commander night.

Pre-orders for unreleased Magic product are placed in person at the store, and no money is taken down. Typically special orders are possible too, depending on the product.

Returns are in person only, within 15 days, for sealed, undamaged, non-collectable items with the original receipt, and are given as store credit or exchange. Sealed card product and blind box items cannot be returned once they leave the store, and opened Magic product is final. Used games have a 3-day return window if they do not match the condition on the label. Because the store is an Authorized Internet Retailer of Wizards of the Coast, it cannot sell current sealed Magic product business to business.

House rules are simple: no constant profanity, respect other people, be a good sport in wins and losses, and help newer players learn. Players preparing for a bigger event can ask the staff to set aside a spot for a testing group. Customers are asked not to sell items to one another inside the store. Supporters of the store get in-store WiFi, and higher support tiers add store discounts, extended play hours and an invitation to a monthly board game night.

Hours and getting there

Holidays can change both store hours and event nights, and a holiday closing typically moves the affected event to the following day.

History

Geek City opened in 2014 to fill Eastern Iowa's shelves with board games and card games. It expanded into online sales during COVID, and has since put more effort into organized events and keeping its player communities connected. The staff is small.

The local scene

Game Day is a neighboring store in Williamsburg, about 0.1 miles away, and English River Antiques & Collectibles is in Kalona, about 21 miles away.