The Wizard's Chest

Denver's 16,000 sq ft toy-and-game castle on Broadway since 1983 — Pokemon prereleases, Magic singles via TCGplayer Pro, and Commander nights downstairs.

A metal wizard guards the door of this castle-fronted Broadway landmark, and that sets the tone: The Wizard's Chest has been Denver's most theatrical place to buy games since 1983. Behind the costumes and the dragon decor sits a serious tabletop operation — 16,000 square feet spanning board games, miniatures, dice, and a growing trading card corner that makes it a legitimate stop on any Denver card shop crawl.

The card side covers Pokemon cards and Magic: The Gathering in both sealed and singles form, with the shop's singles inventory searchable and orderable through its TCGplayer Pro storefront. As a Wizards Play Network store, it runs organized play too: casual Commander gathers in the downstairs game room on Thursday nights, and Pokemon prerelease events land here when new sets drop. Families hunting a first Elite Trainer Box shop the same aisles as costume shoppers and Commander lifers, which is very Broadway.

Everything else in the building makes the trip worth padding with extra time: thousands of board games with staff who actually play them, a dice-and-figurine wall reviewers call beautiful, plus puzzles, plush, and one of the city's best Halloween costume selections in the fall. Google reviewers rate it 4.8 stars across thousands of reviews, praising staff who let you browse for an hour without hovering.

Hours run 11am-7pm on weekdays and 10am-7pm on weekends. Metered street parking sits out front on Broadway; the Fentress Architects lot at the building's south end is free after 6pm on weekdays and all day on weekends. October gets hectic with costume traffic, so card hunters should aim for weekday afternoons — and check the events page before a prerelease weekend, since seats fill fast. Downtown without a car? The store publishes low-stress bike routes from anywhere in the city, a fitting touch for a shop this deeply woven into Denver.