Honestly, it’s life changing is a regular series where we talk about the weird and wonderful possessions we can’t imagine life without. Think of it as an ode to the mundane, bizarre and, sometimes, wholly unnecessary products in our lives.
You can complain that children these days have their faces buried in phones and tablets and I’ve certainly heard people bemoaning the demise of “good, old-fashioned play”. But sometimes it’s hard to blame the kids themselves. A really exciting game offers the kind of non-stop, high-octane instant gratification that it’s hard to get from a hoop and stick or an old wooden boat, you know?
Still, there’s a lot to be said for three-dimensional, tangible toys and the skills developed by playing with them. So, what if something could be both? People, I think I’ve found that thing. Combining old-school building bricks with modern mobile gaming, Lego’s Hidden Side range is equal parts conventional, thousand-stage construction and next-gen augmented reality. And I love it.You build the set in the usual way you would any Lego Kit, but then you can point your phone at it and, using the Hidden Side app, the augmented reality kicks in and suddenly your creation becomes a part of an on-screen game. Ghosts come out of the set, right there in front of your face, and you have to blast them away. It’s Goosebumps-esque. It’s futuristic. It’s fun.
And it’s the best of both worlds. Who doesn’t enjoy building a big old Lego set – and these ones have all the spooky details and ghoulish mini-figurines holding their own smartphones – then mucking about with your phone or tablet. It’s digital pudding after a deliciously analogue main course. Related... The Top 10
Christmas Toys For 2019 Lego refers to it as ‘phygital play’ – a deeply silly portmanteau of ‘digital’ and ‘physical’ that sounds too much like ‘fidgety’ to ever catch on – but the way they’ve executed it is more impressive. Various toys have come with QR codes and passwords to access online treats for a while now, but this feels like a step beyond that – an everyone-pleasing solution.
You get the benefits of putting the thing together (and depending on who’s doing it, all the family bonding and/or arguments that come with that) – and a bunch of extra, decent content.It’s not cheap, with the biggest set in the ‘Hidden Side’ range a pocket-money-unfriendly £109.99 (the smallest is under £20) – but you do get bang for your buck. And the sets – a school-bus, a haunted school, a ghost train, a ghost-hunter’s lab, a shipwreck, and more – all fit into the overarching story of the online game, which is set in the haunted town of Newbury where characters Jack, Parker and J.B. are trying to get rid of all these damn ghosts.
What’s really nice is that the app side of things isn’t necessary to enjoy the Lego itself. You’ll keep hold of these sets for as long as the castles and pirate ships we all grew up with and in 2049, when apps and smartphones are laughably archaic, a big rad yellow school bus covered in ghost-hunting paraphernalia will still be badass (here’s where I tell you bit where it says “School Bus” has been changed to “Cool Bus”. Well, it impressed me.The app is definitely a lot of fun, too – it’s incredibly satisfying seeing something you’ve built come to life like you’re some kind of youthful plasticky Gepetto.
But as with all Lego, the real joy is in the building – pressing a bunch of pieces together trying to figure out what they’re going to become; spending ages on a section you later realise is barely visible; getting a bit wrong and not realising for another eight steps then having to undo it; eyeing up a big fancy-shaped novelty bit for ages and finding out it’s the very last step. Wonderful stuff.
And if the ghosts aren’t scary enough for you, you can always tread on a few bricks barefoot.
Buy Lego’s Hidden Side Paranormal Intercept Bus for £40.97 at Amazon.Related... Lego Rolls Out Audio And Braille Instructions This Toddler Video Makes Us Wish Our Dad Was An SFX Expert Too The Best Wooden Toys For Kids We all work hard to earn our money – so it shouldn’t feel like hard work to spend it well. At HuffPost Finds we’ll help you find the best stuff that deserves your cash, from the ultimate lipstick to a durable iron to replace the one that broke (RIP). All our choices are completely independent but we may earn a small commission if you click a link and make a purchase.