Genius Gems opened about a year ago; my family has gone twice now. They have over 100,000 manga tiles, and there are two things I especially enjoy about this place:
The specialty nature. It focuses on one thing and does that well- better than anyone else in the NYC area.
It’s a casual but safe environment with a bar. Assuming your children are a bit older, give them some free rein.
Read on for my full review!
The Details
Genius Gems is located at 101 15th Street (entrance on 6th Ave between 15th and 16th Street). The F train is only a block away but it’s not far from the 14th Street 2,3 Stop or Union Square (4,5,6 & N, Q, R, W).
They are open every day from 10 am-5:30 pm.
General Admission Tickets are booked in 90-minute time slots for $30/person. Admission tickets are required for all adults attending with children. (A glitter tile is included with every admission, which I’ll explain more about below.)
They say the space is geared toward 4-10-year-olds. My son LOVES manga tiles and enjoyed his visit at two and three years old. Because of the challenges they offer, it does cater to older children who don’t play with magnetic tiles as consistently on their own anymore.
They offer three-month memberships that include two kids for $750. If I lived close by, I would be very interested. It’s not a realistic option for me, living in Brooklyn.
I love that they have lockers similar to those at a high-end fitness facility. There is stroller parking and a coat closet as well, but it can get a little chaotic on busy days.
The Space
As you enter, I guarantee you’ll be impressed by the main play area. I’d never seen so many manga tiles or a life-sized sculpture made of them! My son, both times, headed straight for the magnetic wall (header photo). They have a ball track that can be used to make a race course of sorts. He made his track and repeated the same thing over and over and over again.
My almost seven-year-old loves the challenges in this main area. At the beginning, there is a bucket for constructing different challenge designs. Depending on the design's challenge, a certain number of tokens will be granted. I respect that they gave out an extra token for cleaning up your design once you were done.
There is a blacklight room just off the main area. This space has large magnetic tiles that can be used to build a fort. It is also a soft, no-shoe area if you’re there with little ones. In the blacklight room, they have fluorescent tiles that display better in that environment.
The lower section is past the main area, down a few steps. It has a cafe, a few other small entertainment pieces, and a space to make glitter tiles.
Every admission comes with a token to make one of these glitter tiles that are magnetic covers. I’d never heard the cover before. It’s a bit unnecessary but I appreciate the craft and that we have something to take home for the price of admission. They have very cute charms and fun patterns for construction. Most kids will need a bit of help. The glitter is messy but not wild- it’s also not happening at your house!
There is a cute little coding/robotic track that I think my children were a bit too young for. More tokens available for completing a robotic track too!
They both loved the air tube, fan, and handkerchief stop.
The cafe has what I’d think of as snacks plus hot food like hot dogs and pretzels. Most impressively, they serve beer and wine. I love a kids’ playspace with tables and treats for adults—we need more of it!
After your time, you can use the tokens from the challenges to pick out a small toy/reward. Of course, it’s 2024, and you can also pay to augment these tokens. (I did this to placate my younger child, who couldn’t earn any.)
The Experience
The staff was super friendly on both of my visits, but the front desk check-in can be a bit confusing. Book ahead of time, and it will be a breeze.
I went during February break, so things were quite crowded. The owner told me the afternoon was a better time to come, regardless of the day. When you look at online bookings, it’s pretty noticeable how many more slots are available in the evening.
If you can guide your children, do the glitter tile first. This is the biggest bottleneck of the place, and we had to wait for a seat.
It was easy to supervise my children in the main area. It's the type of space I took my younger child to the bathroom and let my daughter keep playing.
Especially because of the bar; I think this is a great spot to try and rendezvous with friends. You may actually be able to have an adult conversation instead of just running around after a child.
While this requires a subway ride, it should be on every Brooklyn family’s bucket list in Brooklyn. Enjoy!
Katie