Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Now here is an epic idea. Take a pinch of Minecraft, a hint of Legos, along with classic platform video games and turn it into a toy that not only allows children to play those video games, but to help craft them too. Seriously, as a former computer programmer, I think that idea alone deserves a slow hand clap. Let kids be creative, let them THINK, and also let them play. Awesome. I got this for my 11-year old son, but I had to take it for a spin myself for this review. (This is going to be a reward or a Christmas present later, I think. Don’t tell him!) I installed the app on my Android tablet. One thing that was clear from the app is that there are a lot of young craftsman out there creating games. Also impressive is that Mattel has created an easy-to-use interface that allows these designers to share and play each other’s work. That’s what the Internet is all about! After exploring the app for a bit, I got to work on the test pattern you’re supposed to create on the bioxels board to sync it with the app. That was a little tricky and took a lot of tries and different lighting conditions. My advice: get in a heavily lit room, and place the board on a surface that will make it stand out. A solid and light-colored place-mat works well. (Don’t place it on a glass or dark-colored table!) Eventually I was able to input the test pattern. Next I started on my own background pattern. I created a simple one borrowing from one of the bioxel examples. After a few minutes of trying I wasn’t able to get it uploaded to the app. Even on the same background and lighting conditions as I used before. Bummer! Then I discovered that the included board isn’t really necessary to the design process. A designer can do it all via the app too—picking colored blocks from a palette and dropping them onto a virtual board. The plastic board is only necessary to give the game a tactile dimension. My guess is that most bioxel designers stop using the plastic board after only a few tries. (Unless they farm out design aspects to siblings!) So, really, this kit is a way to purchase access to the bioxels app and network. That’s where all the magic happens. It also makes a nice gift you can wrap for Christmas and serves as a good starting point. The instructions are clearly written to appeal to kids. I would’ve liked a little more straightforward and structured explanation, but what is here should be adequate for your young designer. Colorful and intriguing. All in all, this kit is a fantastic concept implemented in an appealing and sure-to-please-your-kids way. I recommend it! ** Update: I wanted to add a note here now that my son has opened and used this kit. It was the first thing he played with after the Christmas gifts were all unwrapped. The first time I checked in on him, he was busy syncing the board to our tablet. The next time I checked he had stopped, saying he was "bored" and "stuck". What he really meant was that he couldn't go any further because his access to the online bloxels world wasn't set up. After I walked him through that he immediately went back to designing. Within a couple hours, he had fairly sophisticated level to show me, complete with a hero and villain characters. I was impressed. He even shared his game with others online. He also was no longer using the board, but designing with only the app. (Like I suspected would happen.) All to say: I still think this is a great toy! My recommendation stands. ** Also, thank you to everyone who has liked this review. I'm glad you found it useful!!