Dream Wizards

Renovated gaming area, including new lights and ceiling fans! Definitely an improvement from earlier reviews, routinely get large turnouts for their tournaments, staff are working hard to make the gamers experience better! Miniature night is on Wednesday nights.

Dream Wizards hosted a Card Store Tournament and I was impressed by the professionalism and dedication of the staff. They wanted us to have a great experience and I would definitely come here again for another Store Tournament.

The SO and I are pretty avid tabletop gamers (not RPG) but board games. Over the last few weeks we have hit most of the big gaming stores in the area and we stopped at Dream Wizards on a whim.
Not the biggest selection, but we did pick up a few items, including a game that just came out from Japan (that we hadn’t seen else where).
There was a ton of people playing various games in the store, so if you are short on friends to play games with, I am sure you could find someone here to play with.
Overall the prices are a bit higher than else where, but I seriously disliked that most things didn’t have a price on them. They argued that the price would damage the product… but when the product is wrapped in plastic shrink wrap you aren’t putting the sticker on the product anyway! Just lazy employees.

We were hesitant to stop by Dream Wizards due to all the negative reviews, but went anyway and had a great experience!
The store isn’t huge, but they still seemed to have a decent selection of games. The salesperson we dealt with was fantastic. We went in to buy some Magic cards without having any previous experience with the game. The salesperson was really friendly and exceptionally knowledgeable. He gave us a great explanation of our deck options and helped us buy the best deck for what we needed. Also, we later noticed that Dream Wizards charged less for the Magic duel deck that we purchased than the current price on Amazon.
The store is a bit run-​down and smells a little funny if you care about that sort of thing. But overall, we had a great experience at Dream Wizards and would definitely go back!

This is a fairly large store but surprisingly not that much inventory or selection given how big the space is. Many of the games were dusty and the prices were higher than other retailers. Staff were talking to themselves and not very helpful. I’ll just stick to Labyrinth in DC for my games — they’re much smaller but still manage to have a lot more in stock.

I really wanted to like this place. I relocated to the area about two years ago from a place that had a really great selection of gaming shops. When I found this one I was happy, but I quickly realized that their products were overpriced (I’m not even just talking versus Amazon pricing, a lot of their games you can buy at Target now and they’re cheaper there). The staff was never outwardly rude to me, but they weren’t exactly helpful, either. I bought a couple versions of Fluxx from them, but that was it. I will stop in to browse for new ideas if I’m bored, but that’s about it.

I have had issues with this place before, especially the employees that don’t seem to want to be working there. They’re rude at worst and simply ignore you at best until you come right up in their face to ask them a question. The general hostility is unacceptable.
I am an avid gamer and have been playing role-​playing games for nearly 26 years. That off my chest, I can’t understand why a store would call itself a gaming store when they have four shelves of role-​playing books in the middle of the store and that’s it. The ‘store’ looks more like a place to play games, rather than buy stuff. Well, I have a kitchen table and better chairs than they offer for that as well as a clean bathroom that isn’t painted with piss from people that can’t aim their genitalia correctly.
Their prices are also ridiculous when compared to Amazon. I have Amazon Prime, so I am not even paying for shipping on books I buy there and Paizo has PDFs of their books you can buy and download right on their website, so I see little need to come here to be insulted or to be assaulted by the smell of a dirty latrine and ‘hardcore gamer’ body odor.
The quick and dirty: The bathrooms are disgusting, the employees are rude or don’t care, and there isn’t enough actual gaming material to be bought to bother driving all the way down Randolph to get there.

It’s kind of hidden away, which is okay, but it’s also small, limited in stock, and run by people who don’t seem to know or care much about games. It’s also a fairly unpleasant place that could use some better cleaning. I’ve been in here a few times, but never felt compelled to buy anything or even felt comfortable being there.
It seems to attract the worst elements of the gaming community, and I would suggest that anyone looking for somewhere to run a game or buy gaming products can find a better place to spend money on than this.

I miss their old location and Nick W. has a spot on review on the place. It never recovered in my opinion since the move.

When you first walk in, Dream Wizards seems like a great place. Big, filled with tons of stuff. It only takes a short bit of time until the illusion is dispelled and you realize that it’s actually one of the worst stores you have ever been in.
I’m not even sure where to start with this review. The employees are rude. I wish there was a stronger word than that, because they might go down as the rudest employees I have ever seen at a store. They aren’t helpful, and they don’t care about you. I have been into the store four times. Twice I have been accused of shoplifting.
Secondly, although the store has a very large selection, their prices are through the roof. For Magic: The Gathering cards, their prices can sometimes be double what StarCity is. Cards that are worth $ 0.50 are sold for $ 2.00.
And it’s not just the Magic cards that are exorbitantly priced. Everything else is as well. I found an old card game on their shelves from the 1990’s. They had marked it at $ 75, the price it was when it first came out. But the game was poorly received and never went anywhere. The game now sells for about $ 15 online. When I told the employee I would give them $ 30 for it, he said they couldn’t sell it for anything less than the full sales price. When I pointed out that it was available for a lot cheaper online — plus the copy in the store had a layer of dust on it and I was likely the only person to ever be interested in it — he shrugged and just walked away.
I actually put myself through the pain of attending two of their events here. They’re poorly organized and poorly run, and the people who play at the store represent the worst stereotypes of the gaming culture. Players are rude, mean, ill-​tempered and have poor hygiene. It’s only a matter of time until one of them sets the store on fire, because that’s the type of person I found playing here. I also attended one of their Pokemon events, which are equally horribly run.
I spoke with the owner, who said the store opened in the 1970’s and she took it over from her late husband. Maybe he cared for the store, but it’s obvious she’s just turned it into a thinly veiled cash grab. I think this place is staying alive from the shear momentum of 40 years in existence, but it’s time for it to close. Labyrinth, Curio, and Victory have all opened in the D.C. area, and these are much, much better stores to go to. There is literally no reason at all I can think of that anyone should ever go to Dream Wizards, and I advise you to avoid this store at all costs.

My husband and I stopped by here one night when we were on our way to a «game night» with some friends… but all our games were at home! We thought it was about time to pick up a new board game anyway, so we came here to get some advice on a new one. The staff was helpful and gave us time to look over the games and make our decision. Even though the store was busy with a MTG event, the guy up front took the time to talk us through the different games he had played and give us his opinion on them. Game stores like this make us happy (although we do definitely prefer Labyrinth). We’ll gladly spend the extra money to purchase a game from here (rather than Amazon).

This is a review from going to their Return to Ravnica (MTG) Release draft tournament. I and two buddies went. We haven’t played in a while, and the staff was very friendly and helpful, even talking through the rules changes with us.
Very large playing space and turnout; you could tell they’re a popular spot for MTG. Players were friendly and nice at my table, though one of my friends sat down with a table full of regs that were quite a bit more competitive. He said he felt a little pressured during the draft (which he’d never done before) since they drafted at such a quick pace… quick glance at the pack and they’d made their selections. Not the most talkative bunch. Basically a very unlucky table draw.
I really enjoyed myself, but the atmosphere was touch and go. I can see it being unfriendly for newer players, and the tables aren’t the cleanest or classiest I’ve ever seen (plastic, paint stains from model painting). That said, I will absolutely be going back.
To me, the drawbacks were minor or cosmetic. Not important compared to having fun and playing the game, and definitely not dealbreakers for me. Then again, it probably keeps some nice casual clientele away… and I like casual folks. Hence 3 stars.

Disclamer: I would hate to see a brick and mortar store disappear but this review is going to be negative.
Pertains to: MTG events
I have attended one Saturday morning draft here, and I have attempted to make a pre-​release event. The following are my experiences.
Clearly this is a popular location, drawing upwards of 50 – 100 people for an event. This is a great feeling. I live about 45 min away so I have to call ahead to see if there is still room. In both cases I’ve been told I should come, but in both cases something has gone wrong. They started early on the first event necessitating I accept a loss if I wanted to participate. The staff displayed no regret at this (despite having urged me to come.) On the second event I arrived, stood in a line of 60 or so people and upon entry was told that they were only accepting Cash. This had not been advertised (and I had not been warned over the phone.) They said tough luck and asked me to leave.
This is not a friendly location for newcomers of the game. The owners and staff clearly like feeling like they’re running pro-​tournaments. I’ve seen the staff speaking harshly to new players who were playing too slowly.
To add to this generally unfriendly atmosphere, the staff and the regulars clearly have a rapport and make derogatory jokes about each other loudly during play rounds. This further serves to alienate new-​comers.
The selection is good. Its clearly a community staple. Review posted to raise awareness and suggest to new players, try elsewhere.

This review pertains only to MTG events/​merchandise.
Whatever benefits this place has (big playing area, competitive players for MTG), they get heavily outweighed by a mean staff that tries to nickle and dime you every chance they get.
Even judges who come to manage events warn you against asking the store owner (s)/workers because they might be dicks. That is quite telling.
I don’t mind the price of singles (no store is cheap, they gotta make rent somehow) but the fact that they don’t even make commons/​uncommons browseable is ridiculous. You have to ask for SPECIFIC cards and then the staff will look for them and charge you a ton for them. This is only if you get the guts to ask the staff to look for a card for you (to which the most common response is that they don’t have time to do that right now).
The competitive community here includes some of the best players in the region but it is not very new player friendly. The casual playgroups are far friendlier but they’re generally only around on Thursday nights.
One star for large play space. One star for good casual community on Thursday. If you’re closer to the VA stores, stay away from DW.

Age check. I’ve been going to Dream Wizards since 1987. At the time Dream Wizards was located over near Congressional Plaza behind where the REI now sits. That was a much smaller basement space but it was packed with RPG games along every wall and magic /​mystical stuff in the back. Who doesn’t like a little black magic mixed in with their RPGs!?! I spent more money and time in this store than I’d care to admit. Today, I have crates and crates of old RPG materials to show for it.
Since then, they’ve moved to a much bigger space along Parklawn Drive which I guess gives them room for Magic card tournaments, Warhammer and HeroClix battles, &c. That’s all fine. While I like the idea of Dream Wizards (a local brick and mortar FRPGS), it just doesn’t stack up to what’s available online, both in terms of selection and prices. I would be disappointed if the store dried-​up and went away, but can’t afford paying a 20−30% premium (i.e., MSRP) on things I can more easily get elsewhere. I hope they do well by their events…

I’m pretty sure places like this are the reason people leave the gaming hobby.
Back in the day, you’d have to deal the «gamer stench,» the (overly) competitive players, the stench of the (overly) competitive players, et. infinitum — but no longer. The DC-​Metro area has a number of great locations for gaming.
Some people may like this place, but if you’re a casual gamer just looking to browse or play a game or two, you’re probably in the wrong store. This place is definitely catering to the hardcore demographic, or at least that’s how it’s working out.
They get an extra star for their large gaming area, but honestly, I’ll happily deal with a cramped space as long as it’s clean and free of people arguing over rules/​results. I say pass.

Back in the day (waaaaaaaaay back in the day), I was a RPG nerd. Not just any RPG nerd… but a D&D nerd. Hey, this was well before online gaming and WoW and crap. Back in the day, our games were powered by our IMAGINATIONS. HA! Take that!
OK. Yeah, I was lame. Still am, because I still really love to game. But at least I don’t LARP. HA! Those are the real dorks!
But I digress…
Back in the day, when I was a proud RPG nerd, I used to hit up Dream Wizards for my gaming supplies. This was back when it was located behind the hotel next to Congressional Plaza. Now it’s on Parklawn, past the Wendy’s but before the ethnic market that used to be a Lotte.
I had heard that the quality and selection at DW had gone down dramatically since back in the day. Not that they were that great back in the day, but when it was one of your only options, believe me, they were marvelous. So I came in, not exactly expecting to find what I was looking for — or at least, getting a ton of attitude while looking for it.
Instead, I got two very pleasant sales people that were working the counter, and was able to help me out. There was a tournament going on in the back, so the place was pretty busy (and had the old familiar rank smell of old fast food and gamer BO), but they still were able to dig around to get me what I needed.
YAY!
The prices were higher then what I could find online, but hey, I was in a pinch, and if you factor in shipping costs, they were only a hair pricier. Eh, sometimes you have to pay for convenience and piss poor planning), right?

This review is about their Magic: The Gathering events.
I’ve been here many times but only because it’s the largest MTG gaming store in the area. They hold FNMs, PTQs, etc.
The good: Lots of players, lots of sealed product.
The bad thing about this store if the greediness of the owner and the douchebaggy players the store attracts.
The owner loves to charge for events with horrible prize support. The staff is rarely friendly and the singles are poorly stocked and overpriced. As for the players, the store attracts many top competitive players but unfortunately the environment leans towards the douchebag side with newcomers and beginners being berated and ridiculed by the ‘established’ pros.
If you’re looking for a more welcoming group, I’d recommend Animé Pavilion.

I would like this place so much more if it didn’t constantly smell of B.O. and french fries. It doesn’t matter how many people are in there or what time of day it is, that’s the smell.
They do have a nice selection of gaming stuff but I’d go to Outpost/​Other Realms in Gaithersburg over this place any day. Plus parking here is a pain in the butt especially with all the construction on Parklawn.

Last weekend my wife and I headed out for a random road trip, and ended up going to Dream Wizards — which was exactly like what we were hoping for (but didn’t get) when we hit the Compleat Strategist a couple of weekends back.
A large gaming area, very well-​stocked collection of games of every stripe, and attentive personnel.
Of course there was the standard «teen-​boy scent» — The Mrs noticed the was one half of the female population (the male population was maybe 25 or so) — the other a young kid, probably 12 – 13, playing Pokemon happily amongst the sea of boys.
We also got to see a low-​grade temper tantrum from one of the other players in a tournament… complaining that his purchased booster pack was useless… stomped and slapped the pack down amongst the poor counter-​folk. I suspect that he was maybe about a half-​hour to an hour to being ejected from the premesis.
I highly recommend paying them a visit, and while you’re there, pick up a copy of Fluxx or Chrononauts!
I couldn’t resist picking up a copy of Polarity (thanks again for the hint, Keethrax!) and Cosmic Wimpout … a Yahtzee-​like dice game I used to enjoy back in high school. I think the last time I played it was about 20 years ago in Mr. Eck’s Marine biology class, fourth period. Not sure of the exact day, but it was near the end of the school year in 1987.