The Game Closet

Waco's Commander crowd calls The Game Closet home — an MTG singles counter, a huge board game rental library, and play tables running late daily.

Ask Magic players where the best Commander scene in Waco lives and the answer comes back fast: the Franklin Avenue storefront where owner BJ has been building a community for years. The Game Closet is the tabletop anchor of the city — a Wizards of the Coast WPN store where the spacious play room stays busy deep into the evening and Friday nights belong to Magic.

What separates this shop from a typical singles counter is the rental model. A large board game library is available to rent and play, letting families and groups try titles before buying — a genuinely uncommon service among trading card stores in Texas. The retail side covers MTG sealed and singles, RPG books and dice, Warhammer and other miniature wargames, and shelf after shelf of board games.

Reviewers return to the same theme over and over: the welcome. First-timers describe being walked through upcoming events and made to feel at home, and more than one calls it the best hobby shop in Texas specifically because of the owner. For a beginner looking to get into Commander without knowing anyone in town, this is the easiest on-ramp the Waco card shop scene offers.

The posted schedule is ambitious — 10AM to 11PM seven days a week — which makes it the latest-open game store in the city most nights. Evenings fill up with scheduled Magic events, so daytime visits are best for browsing the rental library or getting unhurried help at the counter; Friday night is the marquee draw for competitive players.