More information about LEGO City Missions
Posted by CapnRex101,
Three intriguing LEGO City Missions sets were unveiled last week and more information about the range is now available.
With new digital storytelling experiences, LEGO City Missions puts children in charge of customising their models using pure imagination and creativity in a bid to solve exciting, upcoming missions.
The LEGO Group today announces a unique, interactive experience for budding designers to be able to create their own creations with LEGO City Missions.
Time to roll-up your sleeves and forget about traditional LEGO building instructions – this new experience will take you on a story-led building journey - putting imagination and creative experimentation to the test. It’s the latest innovation from LEGO City that lets children dive into an awesome world of interactive adventures and missions to be solved through instruction-free building challenges and engagement with on-screen characters.
LEGO City Missions launches with three new sets based on animal rescue, space exploration and police detective mysteries. Each model is accompanied by an interactive story, with each story containing eight distinctive missions. Children will be given inspiration for core model builds, which they will then be encouraged to constantly rebuild and adapt to the different scenarios, prompts and missions they encounter throughout each story.
“The team behind LEGO CITY Missions wanted to explore a new route to celebrate children’s imagination and let their creativity flourish during LEGO building. We know from talking with children and their parents that creative confidence is key to children’s wellbeing and with this new product our aim is to help every child recognise and be proud of their unique creations”. Says Lillie Ann Talbott, Design Strategist, Creative Play Lab at the LEGO Group
Mikkel Lee, Story Innovation Lead, Creative Play Lab at the LEGO Group adds “we want every child to know that there is no right or wrong, and that only their imagination sets the limit to what they build. With LEGO City Missions we’ve worked hard to ensure a strong balance of storytelling to get children started on their builds but also to give them open tasks to complete and allow for individual interpretation. Throughout our testing we’re constantly reminded that children are creative geniuses, and so we really can’t wait to see what they come up with!"
Using a QR code inside the box, the interactive stories are accessed via the LEGO Digital Building Instructions app.
Children looking for new ways to build and challenge their inner design skills will love these new products, mastering endless hours of creative play where only the imagination sets the limit to the models built for each mission.
- The LEGO City Wild Animal Rescue Missions set lets children build and create to save the day. Utilising the core model, the rescue pick-up truck, kids will be able to rebuild and accessorise their set as they solve missions throughout the story. Through the digital stories, kids will play the lead by interacting with onscreen characters such as Westbrook, Jessica Sharpe and Fendrich to solve challenges throughout their build experience and rescue animals around town from sticky situations.
- LEGO CITY Mars Spacecraft Exploration Missions build launches children on a thrilling adventure aboard the space shuttle to explore Mars! Grab the spacecraft to customise and complete fun missions through the digital story provided. Featuring Astronaut Lt. Rivera and Dr. Wexler, children will find endless joy and excitement as they work with these in-app characters to explore space and Mars.
- LEGO City Water Police Detective Missions gives children an opportunity to join the LEGO CITY Police team and solve the ocean mystery. Children will customise the police boat with accessories like a camera, trophy, diver mask, handcuffs, walkie-talkie and more to play detective and work with favourite characters like Chief Wheeler and Gracie Goodhart to accomplish tasks at hand. And don’t forget to grab your favourite furry pal to help with the job.
With each adventure chosen by children, featuring different missions, there is ample opportunity for them to be the heroes of the story. Using the power of storytelling to ignite imagination, with the LEGO bricks provided, children can extend the physical play experience as they build and rebuild continuously.
These new sets will be available at select retailers from June 1st globally, excluding China, with a recommended retail price of 29.99 EUR/39.99 USD.
A smartphone or tablet with the LEGO Building Instructions app installed is required to play LEGO CITY Missions.
This concept sounds somewhat reminiscent of the Master Builder Academy sets produced several years ago, encouraging people to solve problems through building.
Does LEGO City Missions sound appealing to you and do you think children will enjoy it? Let us know in the comments.
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78 comments on this article
This kinda reminds me of Hidden Side with a splash of WeDo and other education type sets.
I think this sounds like a good way to use an app with LEGO to encourage creative play. It seems like the focus is on building rather than doing stuff in an app (like Vidiyo). Multiple missions as well means more play value.
I hope Brickset can review with some children involved.
Now this I can tatally get behind. I've been pretty tired at thei half hearted attempts at mixing LEGO and digital app that rarely make use if the creativity inherent to the LEGO medium but one that aims entirely at pushing it forward through stroytelling is definitely the way to go, imo.
We'll have to see how the app actually does that.
We should compile a list of all the previous such offerings. Gotta give TLG credit for trying repeatedly and not giving up.
Argh for Christ's sake Lego get over your technology fetish. Kids have enough phones and games in their lives as it is, they need to discover the benefits of having time away from screens.
It is also important for kids to learn to turn pages (to read a book), be patient, and understand proper instructions in a book.
Regardless of whether you are a Lego fan, life is full of following instructions whether its assembling a new office desk or reading the fire escape plan for your building. You aren't going to have, and indeed, shouldn't need, an app for everything.
Things like this stifle creativity. The provided story tells the kids what to do, while the included bricks are hardly anything useful to create new models (they literally advertise adding a walkie talkie or handcuffs to the boat like its some huge modification or rebuild)
Kids will do the game thing for a little while, get bored and abandon the whole thing. It's also extremely limited to that specific theme like water police. You can't even make a police car, let alone a space ship or animal for example.
Normally kids make something by themselves and then often tell family members about it. This helps with their speech, interaction and vocabulary as well as overall creativity. With this, they will be glued to yet another screen, do the challenges (and likely chuck a tantrum because they can't do said challenges) and then go do some other computer/phone/ipad game.
What ever happened to kids just being given a bunch of random bricks and they come up with all kinds of things from their imagination, or instead build something according to book instructions to then play with (in the real world) and rebuild and redesign, add to their other sets etc?
It is deeply concerning that the Lego System of Play is now having to tell kids what to build, when to build and how to build just to get them engaged. (for 5 minutes or so)
"'Build safety gear", no build something you come up with yourself from your own imagination rather than needing some digital prompt! (or maybe just ask a family member or friend for suggestions, like you know, talk to people, socialise!)
All of them look like they come with a lot of interesting parts. The police sets definitely wants to be turned into a sub. I wonder if this is a/the result of /related to the testing of 81007
@Paperdisy Agree, and as we already had reviews with kids for the Mickey & Friends sets, I'd like to see that repeated with the missions.
@Nexus_Riles or some of the Bricks & more sets like 6053 and others
I think it’s a neat and well-executed idea. However, I’m not sure if it’s really adding anything. Creative play is already possible with any standard LEGO set and I don’t see the need for extra directions, if anything I’d consider it to be a constraint for imagination if you’re made to solve a certain problem instead of making up your own stories.
Then again, no one obliges you to use the app with the set and you can just as well use the parts for your own ideas. I just think this is another unnecessary attempt at a digital-integration gimmick. Everything you need for creative play is already there, why does LEGO keep insisting that you need to combine it with a device to work nowadays? If kids want to use a device they’ll just get Minecraft, not start collecting expensive LEGO products.
Also, “excluding China”? What’s up with that now?
@Brickchap : No-one is forcing these sets on children. Some might like and benefit from that little extra push in terms of storytelling and inspiration. Others might just integrate it into their own routines. I certainly don’t see how this approach “stifles creativity” any more than a standard set with instructions.
More broadly, many children are digital natives. Technology is just another part of their lives. As a parent, I try to find a balance for my daughter. She has an iPad configured for her but defined screen time. She also has an iPod touch in her room.
It turns out, for all the rage on this site about Vidiyo and how it would destroy creativity, my kid still uses the app. Not often, but sometimes. She loves the figures. As for her Lego in general, it’s a mix of completed sets (mostly customised to some degree) and own builds.
Natch, what works for her won’t work for every kid, but that’s the point: they’re all different. So rather than slamming a new Lego idea such as this, I’d sooner meet it with interest and hope it clicks with a certain target market.
A play cycle that is basically use app, built, play, repeat basically ignores the part where the device gets damaged, broken or the battery dies as it is left on the floor when the kid is distracted by the building and playing sections. Genius Lego.
Kind of a mix between City and Classic. Following a story but using a bunch of bricks to build your own creations and solutions. Sounds great and I’m sure the kids will enjoy it.
Agree that it would be great to have kids review these sets ie. the intended target audience.
@Bricklunch I think you're right about kids ignoring the app when they get absorbed in play but that's actually the point of these sets. If the app does what I hope it does, it'll be a springboard for creating, imagining and building. Some kids will do that anyway but some children might really benefit from the prompts in the app to take things apart, rebuild and problem solve.
Without the app, the sets are useful themed parts packs which are still great for play. I think the question mark is about value for money - what's the premium on these sets for the app? We don't know the price yet do we?
Kinds don't need an app to be creative with these sets! Endless possibilities are there, all the pieces are on the table. These are great parts packs and offer alot of modifications. Lego should do this more often, just let the app stuff go, it's not worth the effort.
Did I miss something or is TLG really so stingy now that they don't even include a printed manual anymore? So what do you do in two years when the app no longer works?
This is just crazy. We have a generation of kids growing up who literally have problems holding a pen or to draw or paint with their hands because they are addicted to the phones already and now the "high-quality" toy-maker thinks it's a great idea to let them spend even more time with a device where the quick dopamine kick is just a swipe away (away from the TLG app).
@craiggrannell said:
" ....hope it clicks with a certain target market. "
Pun intended?
Here's an idea: just have pictures on the back of the box that show a couple of examples of other things you can build with the bricks! ...What? It's been done?
@Brickchap said:
"Argh for Christ's sake Lego get over your technology fetish. Kids have enough phones and games in their lives as it is, they need to discover the benefits of having time away from screens.
It is also important for kids to learn to turn pages (to read a book), be patient, and understand proper instructions in a book.
Regardless of whether you are a Lego fan, life is full of following instructions whether its assembling a new office desk or reading the fire escape plan for your building. You aren't going to have, and indeed, shouldn't need, an app for everything.
Things like this stifle creativity. The provided story tells the kids what to do, while the included bricks are hardly anything useful to create new models (they literally advertise adding a walkie talkie or handcuffs to the boat like its some huge modification or rebuild)
Kids will do the game thing for a little while, get bored and abandon the whole thing. It's also extremely limited to that specific theme like water police. You can't even make a police car, let alone a space ship or animal for example.
Normally kids make something by themselves and then often tell family members about it. This helps with their speech, interaction and vocabulary as well as overall creativity. With this, they will be glued to yet another screen, do the challenges (and likely chuck a tantrum because they can't do said challenges) and then go do some other computer/phone/ipad game.
What ever happened to kids just being given a bunch of random bricks and they come up with all kinds of things from their imagination, or instead build something according to book instructions to then play with (in the real world) and rebuild and redesign, add to their other sets etc?
It is deeply concerning that the Lego System of Play is now having to tell kids what to build, when to build and how to build just to get them engaged. (for 5 minutes or so)
"'Build safety gear", no build something you come up with yourself from your own imagination rather than needing some digital prompt! (or maybe just ask a family member or friend for suggestions, like you know, talk to people, socialise!)
"
Yep, yep, yep. It's so sad that Lego (the last bastion of creative play) is so determined to repeatedly shoot itself in the foot. The reason Lego has reached this pinnacle of success is precisely because it offers a non-screen alternative in this tech-obsessed reality where we are becoming fatter, angrier, and more separated.
Why o why would you want to tie your awesome product to tech screens?! Why would you want kids to be drawn to the electronic drug when they just want to play with Lego?
My son (a great kid who is valiantly struggling against techno addiction) was furious when Lego stopped using hand-held remotes for the power functions and forced kids to use an app to power Lego trains. Apparently Lego aspires to be just another tech drug dealer. So sad. The Lego decline continues.
To understand how screen use affects even the brightest of us, use your screen to do something few do... research!
https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/do-digital-distractions-justify-law-professors-prohibitions-on-laptops
Well at least it has something to do with building. (I'm looking at you VIDIYO).
I don't know, this certainly has potential, but given LEGO's previous attempts at merging physical and digital play, I'm not getting my hopes up.
@Paperdaisy said:
" @Bricklunch I think you're right about kids ignoring the app when they get absorbed in play but that's actually the point of these sets. If the app does what I hope it does, it'll be a springboard for creating, imagining and building. Some kids will do that anyway but some children might really benefit from the prompts in the app to take things apart, rebuild and problem solve.
Without the app, the sets are useful themed parts packs which are still great for play. I think the question mark is about value for money - what's the premium on these sets for the app? We don't know the price yet do we?"
I agree... I just think it is an accident waiting to happen built into the design.
The cynic in me doesn't buy the Lego blurb about creativity and imagination. I think it was more about releasing sets without the brain-ache of needing to do the design work.
Im all for these though as many kids have limited budget so increasing the functionality of a single set gets my vote.
I do love it when the armchair child psychologists come out. I think it's a fun and harmless idea.
@MisterBrickster said:
"I do love it when the armchair child psychologists come out. I think it's a fun and harmless idea."
Clearly said by someone who is not fighting to get a child to concentrate on something more than TikTok and video games. The games and apps are being designed by AI to imprison the minds of our youth (and adults). The schools provide the tech (donated by Google) and require their omnipresence in a child's life. I wish to heaven that I could sit back as smugly as you. Unfortunately, I'm on the front lines of this war.
@mr_Fikou said:
"Also, “excluding China”? What’s up with that now?"
I bet either on Chinese localization not being finished or the guardians of the great firewall object to the software.
Or it's something about the 4hours gameplay/week rule.
At last, Lego launches a digital app that is actually about building, will actually encourage kids to experiment with their bricks.
Of course, back in the 70s when I was their target age group I didn't need an app. The bricks were enough to get my imagination going!
Whilst I'm here... Whatever happened to those VIP Add-on Packs?...
Speaking as one who has been recently traumatised by technology (more on this later), I can say that on the one hand this mix of physical and digital is less invasive and app-dependent than some of the other offerings, but on the other an app is an app is an app.
When I say trauma, I mean it: two of my boys, 13 and 14, sold all the LEGO I gave them over the years to buy personal use tablets. This was both heartbreaking and in my opinion, like “exchanging the truth for a lie.” I mean selling a Black Pearl, Temple of Airjitsu and a Harry Potter castle, among other things, for an ephemeral chunk of glass and plastic that will die in a few years at best? Now LEGO is a seldom used product in their lives.
With something like this initiative it might have extended their interest a short time, in particular if there were Star Wars or Ninjago versions for older kids, but the draw of the screen is a powerful one and in principle I don’t support it.
Reminds me a bit about when I was younger and my mate and I would build 8846 and then some random vehicle creation and crash them head on to see who was stronger. We'd adjust and modify to get the best crash protection.
This is what Lego apps should be about. ACTUAL BUILDING
Perhaps we'll get builds on the back of boxes to attempt and refine and build again.
Let's hope this doesn't get discontinued because 'where are the instructions!? My child is upset because they can't build it!' is sent to Lego HQ too many times.
Because that is supposedly why we no longer get alternate models on boxes and instructions.
As for the app usage here... I can't speak for parents because I'm not one, but personally I'm afraid Lego's not going to stop trying, given Lego's attempts the last 25 years to enter the digital market. And I think that's a shame. You're the single most popular toy manufacturer, especially of physical toys! Own it! With the right marketing you can make money because of it!
But since Lego has tunnelvision and won't stop trying I have to say... of all the digital gimmicks they've done this one might be the most natural fit.
Idea books. Alternate model images. X-in-1 sets with idea models sprinkled in like the Designer line. The idea is sound because it's basically this. Just with an app' digital experience.'
If it hás to use an app, this is not that bad of an idea.
@MeisterDad that sounds awful. They're free to do with their possessions what they want if it's theirs, but those sets are worth a lót on the aftermarket. I wonder if they even got their money's worth out of them or actually sold them too easily. Or did they buy an overly expensive tablet or something?
That said, I guess not everyone's going to enjoy Lego as much as us fans would, or appreciate its longevity. For a majority of people they're just toys. And at the end of the day Lego ís worth a lot nowadays, so it's often sold off too.
I sold some sets at the end of my childhood myself, despite never losing my love for my collection. Most of them were small, weird things. Although they're a small percentage of my collection, they are still missed. Some sets were just taking a lot of space over time and at the time I thought I could buy sets I liked a lot more with the money. Was it smart? Not at all! I'm spending a lot to slowly get them back, but fortunately there's only two or so sets that might be out of my reach forever now.
Mistakes happen. But it's rarely the end of it. It might take a while, but one can always learn from it and take action later.
It's expensive and costs some time though.
@MeisterDad
Just because of this I ain't gonna sell my old sets now. Thanks!
Given how many times I've personally heard parents complain about pieces these days being over specialized, and the stories I've heard about kids not being allowed to/wanting to take apart sets, this seems perfect for that audience. I know a lot of kids spend too much time looking at screens, but this seems like a good way to get them to eventually do the opposite.
@MeisterDad, shouldn’t you have upped the bid by a dollar and averted disaster?
@blueshift said:
"Given how many times I've personally heard parents complain about pieces these days being over specialized, and the stories I've heard about kids not being allowed to/wanting to take apart sets, this seems perfect for that audience. I know a lot of kids spend too much time looking at screens, but this seems like a good way to get them to eventually do the opposite."
I've heard about parents who tell their kids not to take apart their sets, or even glue them together. Seems like they're missing the point to me.
@Jack_Rizzo said:
" @blueshift said:
"Given how many times I've personally heard parents complain about pieces these days being over specialized, and the stories I've heard about kids not being allowed to/wanting to take apart sets, this seems perfect for that audience. I know a lot of kids spend too much time looking at screens, but this seems like a good way to get them to eventually do the opposite."
I've heard about parents who tell their kids not to take apart their sets, or even glue them together. Seems like they're missing the point to me."
Lego costs a lot, noone wants to "loose the pieces from expensive toy"
I’m glad I came to this comment section, otherwise I wouldn’t have had any idea the world was ending.
@monkyby87 said:
"I’m glad I came to this comment section, otherwise I wouldn’t have had any idea the world was ending. "
People are free to express their opinions here. You may not agree with them, but that doesn't mean you can pour scorn all over the place. TLG's current obsession with apps is a problem for some, deal with it.
@maaboo35 said:
" @monkyby87 said:
"I’m glad I came to this comment section, otherwise I wouldn’t have had any idea the world was ending. "
People are free to express their opinions here. You may not agree with them, but that doesn't mean you can pour scorn all over the place. TLG's current obsession with apps is a problem for some, deal with it."
Likewise, I am free to express my opinion that people are getting too worked up. Not sure where you get this “scorn all over the place” though. Deal with it.
@StyleCounselor said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"I do love it when the armchair child psychologists come out. I think it's a fun and harmless idea."
Clearly said by someone who is not fighting to get a child to concentrate on something more than TikTok and video games. The games and apps are being designed by AI to imprison the minds of our youth (and adults). The schools provide the tech (donated by Google) and require their omnipresence in a child's life. I wish to heaven that I could sit back as smugly as you. Unfortunately, I'm on the front lines of this war."
You seem tense.
@Jack_Rizzo said:
" @blueshift said:
"Given how many times I've personally heard parents complain about pieces these days being over specialized, and the stories I've heard about kids not being allowed to/wanting to take apart sets, this seems perfect for that audience. I know a lot of kids spend too much time looking at screens, but this seems like a good way to get them to eventually do the opposite."
I've heard about parents who tell their kids not to take apart their sets, or even glue them together. Seems like they're missing the point to me."
Not allowing a set to be taken apart is a form of mental cruelty. It is denying a kid the option of fully utilising a resource to develop him/herself.
@CCC said:
"Kids that like playing games on ipads aren't going to get sucked in by this. And for kids that already like building, they are going to need to use an ipad to play.
I think I'd prefer them to have maybe 20 cards inside a box. They could be shuffled and the top one turned over and that is the mission. It's simple, not relying on screens and can still be used after LEGO discontinues it."
You'll love 11020 Build Together. It's a Classic set, though. And not that many cards. I'm thinking about my self-printed X-Pod Play Off cards now... and the Race to Build It and the Creationary board games I never had...
Really awesome and exciting for the obvious target group (kids and their families and educators), boring for castle craving AFOLS :P
Wild Animal Rescue > Water Police > Mars Exploration
Great idea. I will definitely look at picking these up for my son.
Can't believe some of the negativity in the comments. Don't want to use an app? Don't buy these sets. 99% of Lego sets still don't need one!
Ok, I am interested in the Rescue set due to the parts and the animals.
Thank you for solving the mystery of why images of these sets appeared with a large number of left-over pieces. Although people don't like apps, if it encourages kids to build alternatives then I'm all for it as my kids just build, play, display and discard.
I was really confused by these "Explore" sets when they first popped up here.
After disaster after disaster with app-integrated features, it seems like LEGO may actually be onto something that actually works this time. Plus, the price isn't very expensive. For sure, I'm buying the truck. These sets also have a lot of nice bits in them for what they sell for.
Hot Wheels iD also was cancelled this year, so it's not just LEGO making mistakes (though lots of nice new toolings were introduced in the line that still have yet to see use in premium or regular line ranges).
Speaking as an adult, but I concur with @craiggrannell in that we should at least be open to ideas like this. This is no less "inhibiting creativity" than any standard instruction booklet; if anything, adding a story would motivate child me to build my own things to continue the adventure. It would be preferable if it were not digital, but let's be real: LEGO instructions will probably be the least terrible thing on the digital device that most kids already own.
Also speaking as a digital artist/writer, I often need prompts to get the creative juices flowing. No one creates in a void, and we all start from a place of inspiration, whether we realize it or not.
@Brickchap said:
"
It is also important for kids to learn to turn pages (to read a book), be patient, and understand proper instructions in a book.
"
As toxic as a life of technology can be, I'm sorry, but this is the most Boomer thing I've ever read on this site and it unironically put me on the floor laughing, followed by rage, followed by more laughing. "Kid use mouse. kid must no use book!" is such a simple train of thought that has been thrown out so often it has completely lost all meaning.
Here's the thing pal, what you just wrote right there, those are words. You know how you get meaning out of words? You read them. Kids on the internet still read all the time. Just because its not inscribed on a dead tree doesn't make it any less valuable of data.
Kids are smarter than people give them credit for. If they can figure out how to open a can of Pringles or put a Switch into dock-mode they can figure out how to open a book.
So even super tech dependent kids know how to read, and even super tech dependent kids know how to open a book. You know what that means? They can read books!
This is an equally cliché and overused response to what you said but I'm gonna say it anyway. "Just because you don't know how to use a computer doesn't mean a child doesn't know how to read a book." Knowledge is not choosing one path or the other street. It's a complicated interweaving web of different sources of information, value of that information, and trust you put into that information.
There's some other tirades you could throw in there, like how books have their toxic side through things like tabloids, or how I bet the writer of this comment can't read a telegraph, but I'll just sum it up with:
The world changes. You don't have to blindly accept every innovation or alteration, but to reject them on principle that they are new and different, or to constantly insist what came before is best, is a selfish way of thinking. Your parents had different lifestyles and tech than you had, your kids will have different life and tech than you did. That's how time and generations work. Get over it and quit thinking your time of life was the peak of human evolution and innovation.
I'm more just wondering about the practical implementation and lifecycle of the app. If you're curious about most of the apps of Lego's yesteryears, they've been pulled from the iTunes Store, Google Play, etc. without so much as a warning. If you can find the APK files around the internet somewhere, good luck ... and listen to your antivirus. It's not worth running the old Ninjago Final Battle game if Avast is screeching at you the whole time. So you never are guaranteed to know just when Lego will pull the plug on an app and call it a day.
As for the app's lifecycle, from personal experience, I can't say it's pretty. For example, I tried Hidden Side early on with my Samsung Galaxy S10+, a device that should have easily been able to run the app with higher-end hardware for the time, and my goodness it ran like a toaster. Almost literally, the phone ran very warm and took a ton of my battery in only half an hour. I feel for the poor kids who maybe got a handful of poorly-run minutes on an older hand-me-down device. VIDIYO was a struggle at best, and when I eventually got it to recognize the tiles, my hands were significantly warmer than when they began.
Not to say that every Lego app requires the machine-learning-object-recognition voodoo of Hidden Side or VIDIYO, but even more basic apps like PowerUp run decently at best, suffer severe lag in updates relative to new sets, and do not respond well to older devices. Many kids using smartphones or tablets are using older and more affordable models, not necessarily the latest high-end device. As time goes on, to keep app support up-to-date, older devices get dropped (especially with Android, considering the myriad of devices that can be supported in an application). Remember the old Lego Movie Maker App? Known previously as the Lego Super Heroes Movie Maker App, which nuked all its superhero-themed titles, music, etc. for a generic app, then dropped every device of yesteryear in the interests of long-term support?
All this to say that if the past is any indication, the kids who get these sets will certainly get to use their imaginations! When the app goes down and suddenly there are no instructions at all, that is ...
@Binnekamp: They did undersell them, and just for enough to get the items they wanted. Speed was more important than value. I offered to help them find work over the summer to weed flowerbeds or rake stuff or whatever, even taking them on summer jobs I do on the side, but nope LEGO was that get-rich-quick scheme bargaining chip to skip to the end. Now they use their screen time to the daily parental control limit and it takes a chunk out of their day.
@R1_Drift That’s what my 3rd son says too!
@Kynareth That’s what I did. I hated to buy them twice, as it were, but at least they are now in the care of an owner who appreciates them! All of them were bought second hand, so even in my buying them twice I still paid under current market value.
I don't know.
My kids have enough creativity and imagination without having to resort to a digital device.
I don't understand why LEGO constantly thinks they have to mix physical building with digital content.
The single main unique selling point and whole reason for kids to play with LEGO in the first place is to get away from their stupid mobile devices for a while and enjoy true stressless offline creativity, relaxation and enjoyment.
My kids would never want to have their LEGO time ruined by having to use an app in order to do be told how to be creative in a way LEGO wants them to.
@Brickchap: couldn't agree more with your comment!
@Paperdaisy said:
"I think this sounds like a good way to use an app with LEGO to encourage creative play. It seems like the focus is on building rather than doing stuff in an app (like Vidiyo). Multiple missions as well means more play value.
I hope Brickset can review with some children involved."
Yeah no “Brickset” and “children” don’t mix :P lol. I had this exact idea, something like LEGO mixed with Scribblenauts where you build in real time and play out interactions in the app. That being said, I doubt you’ll scan the builds in this time around (which was integral to my idea) given the infamy of Vidiyo and Fusion.
@GSR_MataNui said:
" @Brickchap said:
"
It is also important for kids to learn to turn pages (to read a book), be patient, and understand proper instructions in a book.
"
As toxic as a life of technology can be, I'm sorry, but this is the most Boomer thing I've ever read on this site and it unironically put me on the floor laughing, followed by rage, followed by more laughing. "Kid use mouse. kid must no use book!" is such a simple train of thought that has been thrown out so often it has completely lost all meaning.
Here's the thing pal, what you just wrote right there, those are words. You know how you get meaning out of words? You read them. Kids on the internet still read all the time. Just because its not inscribed on a dead tree doesn't make it any less valuable of data.
Kids are smarter than people give them credit for. If they can figure out how to open a can of Pringles or put a Switch into dock-mode they can figure out how to open a book.
So even super tech dependent kids know how to read, and even super tech dependent kids know how to open a book. You know what that means? They can read books!
This is an equally cliché and overused response to what you said but I'm gonna say it anyway. "Just because you don't know how to use a computer doesn't mean a child doesn't know how to read a book." Knowledge is not choosing one path or the other street. It's a complicated interweaving web of different sources of information, value of that information, and trust you put into that information.
There's some other tirades you could throw in there, like how books have their toxic side through things like tabloids, or how I bet the writer of this comment can't read a telegraph, but I'll just sum it up with:
The world changes. You don't have to blindly accept every innovation or alteration, but to reject them on principle that they are new and different, or to constantly insist what came before is best, is a selfish way of thinking. Your parents had different lifestyles and tech than you had, your kids will have different life and tech than you did. That's how time and generations work. Get over it and quit thinking your time of life was the peak of human evolution and innovation. "
Just feel I should point out that actually there are loads of kids who don’t read at all- they watch videos and play games, but give them a sentence (on paper or a screen) and they have no clue.
It is surprisingly common
So many parents are gonna buy this and fuss about no instruction booklet because they can't see the app thing, this is probably gonna bomb.
@Trigger_ said:
" @Paperdaisy said:
"I think this sounds like a good way to use an app with LEGO to encourage creative play. It seems like the focus is on building rather than doing stuff in an app (like Vidiyo). Multiple missions as well means more play value.
I hope Brickset can review with some children involved."
“Brickset” and “children” don’t mix :P, I had this exact idea for what’s effectively LEGO Scribblenauts but I assume you just follow a preset story in this one and don’t scan in your builds, given the infamy of Vidiyo and Fusion."
Huh? There's definitely been reviews recently where the reviewer's children have been involved with their opinions included. That's what I meant.
@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"Well at least it has something to do with building. (I'm looking at you VIDIYO)."
To be fair, the actual physical Vidiyo sets are really great, it's just the app that totally sucks - just as was to be expected from a digital effort by TLG.
The irony is, I have got the entire range of Vidiyo sets (and most of the highly creative and cool minifigs). Why? Because thanks to the theme having been such a massive flop it was a great opportunity to get lots of interesting bricks and pieces for bargain basement prices.
@monkyby87 said:
" @maaboo35 said:
" @monkyby87 said:
"I’m glad I came to this comment section, otherwise I wouldn’t have had any idea the world was ending. "
People are free to express their opinions here. You may not agree with them, but that doesn't mean you can pour scorn all over the place. TLG's current obsession with apps is a problem for some, deal with it."
Likewise, I am free to express my opinion that people are getting too worked up. Not sure where you get this “scorn all over the place” though. Deal with it. "
Are you a parent? Are your kids being bombarded by tech trying to get into every aspect of their personal lives?
I know what for example @MeisterDad is talking about.
Of course kids nowadays need to know how to navigate their way through the digital world (and believe me they do), but the negative effects can be seen everywhere - if you keep your eyes open. As a parent you get to experience the negative effects firsthand almost every day.
As a smug cynic who observes from the sidelines you are free to add your point of view of course. It just doesn't add anything worthwhile to the discussion.
@Paperdaisy said:
" @Trigger_ said:
" @Paperdaisy said:
"I think this sounds like a good way to use an app with LEGO to encourage creative play. It seems like the focus is on building rather than doing stuff in an app (like Vidiyo). Multiple missions as well means more play value.
I hope Brickset can review with some children involved."
“Brickset” and “children” don’t mix :P, I had this exact idea for what’s effectively LEGO Scribblenauts but I assume you just follow a preset story in this one and don’t scan in your builds, given the infamy of Vidiyo and Fusion."
Huh? There's definitely been reviews recently where the reviewer's children have been involved with their opinions included. That's what I meant."
I wrote a whole ass essay about how I meant that as a joke about the lack of KFOL users, not knowing that child input was taken during some reviews, and my thoughts on this and why I believe that it’s hardly any worse than typical LEGO sets. But no, I had to go completely brainless idiot and not back my comment up on Notes, completely losing it because my phone almost never lets me post on Brickset without timing the URL out or whatever.
@Terreneflame said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
" @Brickchap said:
"
It is also important for kids to learn to turn pages (to read a book), be patient, and understand proper instructions in a book.
"
As toxic as a life of technology can be, I'm sorry, but this is the most Boomer thing I've ever read on this site and it unironically put me on the floor laughing, followed by rage, followed by more laughing. "Kid use mouse. kid must no use book!" is such a simple train of thought that has been thrown out so often it has completely lost all meaning.
Here's the thing pal, what you just wrote right there, those are words. You know how you get meaning out of words? You read them. Kids on the internet still read all the time. Just because its not inscribed on a dead tree doesn't make it any less valuable of data.
Kids are smarter than people give them credit for. If they can figure out how to open a can of Pringles or put a Switch into dock-mode they can figure out how to open a book.
So even super tech dependent kids know how to read, and even super tech dependent kids know how to open a book. You know what that means? They can read books!
This is an equally cliché and overused response to what you said but I'm gonna say it anyway. "Just because you don't know how to use a computer doesn't mean a child doesn't know how to read a book." Knowledge is not choosing one path or the other street. It's a complicated interweaving web of different sources of information, value of that information, and trust you put into that information.
There's some other tirades you could throw in there, like how books have their toxic side through things like tabloids, or how I bet the writer of this comment can't read a telegraph, but I'll just sum it up with:
The world changes. You don't have to blindly accept every innovation or alteration, but to reject them on principle that they are new and different, or to constantly insist what came before is best, is a selfish way of thinking. Your parents had different lifestyles and tech than you had, your kids will have different life and tech than you did. That's how time and generations work. Get over it and quit thinking your time of life was the peak of human evolution and innovation. "
Just feel I should point out that actually there are loads of kids who don’t read at all- they watch videos and play games, but give them a sentence (on paper or a screen) and they have no clue.
It is surprisingly common"
I'd be interested to see any statistics or other data to back up this claim. I personally know lots of kids who read, and I don't think I know a single child who does not read words whatsoever, excluding those at pre-literate ages. Really, there have always been kids that read more and kids that read less and kids that don't read at all- I personally learned to read at age 3 and I read tons of books, whereas I know many of people of all ages that don't read much- my dad hasn't read a book cover-to-cover in years, and he is, of course, older than I am.
It's also notable that most if not all video games targeted at an above-toddler-age require some level of literacy, in order to read instructions and such.
I really hope that this time app will work with most phones. I remember that I couldn't run the Hidden Side on any device in my family and have heard similar things about Vidiyo. On the other hand Boost still works on my 10+ yo tablet...
As someone who buys these smaller sized sets with the intent of not building the model on the box just alternate builds I think it's great. It seems like a more thought out variation on the Ninjago EVO concept.
Baby croc and hare!
I've seen a few mentions of the Fusion theme ( https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Fusion ) which had a similar parts-pack feel but leant more into an augmented reality style of building, probably before phones (let alone tablets) were able to properly support it.
I bought 21205 Battle Towers used and it's a decent collection of parts, but the app was already unavailable. Treating these new sets that way seems wisest- although maybe Lego will surprise me with an app that not only encourages creativity, but is also kept on the stores for more than the product's shelf life.
Can we talk about the traffic light for a second? Are those prints, or is it just that we are seeing the black studs since they are using tiles?
@PhantomBricks said:
"Can we talk about the traffic light for a second? Are those prints, or is it just that we are seeing the black studs since they are using tiles?"
Pretty sure it's just the way the set was rendered.
At least they are reducing paper usage when they go digital. The normal instructions are horribly inefficent: a whole A4 page of a Ninjago castle just to put two pieces on the rightmost wall.
Some of the best themed parts pack made, hope that the whole app thing won't make it a one wave thing, with the Starter or People Packs long gone this is the first good "replacement" to those.
Value wise they offer very cool parts/animals and figures with extra hair/helm/accessories.
Even so kids will figure out the builds probably easy enough and isn't that a good mission by itself?
So they’re not just a bunch of “trash heap” sets? Still, all I see is a few Classic Space bits, and a new flying owl, and the rest I can pass on.
@Brickchap:
I dunno. With Hidden Side and Vidiyo, you point your phone at the finished model, and then turn away and keep playing with the phone. With this, it sounds more like an interactive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure version of paper instructions. You build the set, and then the phone keeps making you go back and reengage with the model, and not just to flip a switch or turn a dial. This one could work.
@Bricklunch:
I looked at Hidden Side, and for all people loved the sets, all I could see is how the design was entirely built around creating analog controls for a game that had an expiration date. For Vidiyo, all I saw was minifigs. With this, I see something that teaches kids who need the phone to not need the phone anymore. Not every kid is going to dive in with a pile of bricks and look up to see half the day is gone. Yeah, I know, I don’t understand it either. This is something that’ll make them do freestyle design. Make a change, and run with it. Then make another. It may be as close as they’ve gotten to releasing a LEGO Scribblenauts game. Do it enough, and maybe it lights a spark in that kid’s mind, and next thing you know they’re playing the game and the phone is just sitting off to the side, in sleep mode, and collecting dust.
This may not be _It_, but this feels like they’re at least headed in the right direction this time.
@IgelCampus:
Excluding the Bricklink sets, which are their own thing, the only times I know of where they didn’t include paper instructions were when no instructions were needed at all (baseplates, brick separators), or when an interactive component is needed in the instructions (Dimensions, Mario). You can’t put video in paper instructions, and you can’t convey complex ideas in print when words are going to impose a literal language barrier.
@MeisterDad:
Dude…. And they didn’t even offer to sell them to you?
@Binnekamp:
I’ve said this several times before. They are big enough now that they can afford to have a flop on a regular basis, as long as they also have successes to carry the load. They’ve got those. This isn’t the Jack Stone era when they basically gutted City, killed off Technic, and bet the farm on Galidor.
@blueshift:
I have done between 150-200 shows, and I have had one curmudgeon come up to me and complain that it’s all specialized parts, and that back in his day you just had 2x4 bricks. The other member of my LUG who happened to be standing there when this guy walked up turned and looked at me, as I did the same to him. We were both kids who would try to get the “big” annual catalog as soon as humanly possible so we could start hunting for all the new specialized parts that were being produced for the first time.
We honestly don’t hear that, and as a club we’ve done over 250 displays now. Mostly we have people asking us if everything on the tables is made of LEGO bricks, because a lot of them walk up and don’t realize _any_ of it is until they’ve spent some time looking at it.
@Jack_Rizzo:
*sigh* We’ve had a few of those parents, too. Usually, if we can’t simply dissuade them from the start, we at least try to steer them towards Elmer’s “white glue”, which is a non-solvent glue that’s water-soluble. You can glue the parts together, and when you come to your senses, soaking them in warm water will loosen that stuff right up.
@GSR_MataNui:
Everyone knows how to open a can of Pringles. You smack the center on the corner of a countertop, and then twist it until it pops open like a thing of Pillsbury crescent rolls.
@Trigger_:
It’s not the device. The site has a coded time limit. If you take a long time reading the article and/or comments, or you’re typing up a long reply, just start it in a text editor and copy/paste it over. Then at least if it just goes up in a puff, you can refresh the page and paste it again.
@Mr__Thrawn:
I was the kid who would burn out the batteries in the family emergency flashlight a _lot_ because I would sneak it upstairs to read under the covers. I got sent up a grade for reading class in elementary school, but for some reason they always put me with the slower kids, which meant I could never follow along with the group because I’d end up three stories ahead when it came time for me to read out loud (which probably contributed to me never being put with kids who could read at the same speed as me). I remember seeing the other kids struggle, almost physically, it seemed, often needing the teacher to coach them through sounding out words. After I reached an age where I could pass for a grown-up, I remember someone talking about reading books with his young boy, and the boy would get caught up in the story when dad was reading, and wouldn’t understand any of it when it was his turn to read instead. He wasn’t reading the story. He was reading individual words, one at a time, and would have to focus on the next word so hard that there was no room in his mind for anything but that one word. As focus shifted to the next word, the one that had just rolled off his tongue evaporated. Being able to identify the words on a page does not mean you’re reading.
@PhantomBricks:
I’m leaning towards render, but noticing that no other parts between all three images shows a similar effect. However, the pattern isn’t 100% identical between the three lights, while the Space robot dog’s eyes are most definitely printed.
@PurpleDave, @Trigger_: I really don't understand why Brickset (and to a much, much worse extent BrickLink) has to be so user-hostile. I can't remember the last time I used a site that actively and irreversibly throws away user input on an Ajax form when invalidating a site session, let alone having such a small session lifetime, forcing the user to back up their own input either manually or (like me) with a browser extension. It's very typical with form submissions cause new page loads, sure, but Brickset is the first and only site I know that does that with Ajax forms (since you'd have to go out of your way to clear the form on submission, it's not a default browser behavior). And that's not getting into the weird *client-side* quirks of these forms.
I know people give LEGO's fluid play/app integration products a lot of crap but I'm intrigued to see how this one turns out. This line's priorities seem to go beyond just providing a somewhat shallow extra layer to the play experience. If this is an effective way to encourage kids to be more creative I'm all for it.
@MisterBrickster said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"I do love it when the armchair child psychologists come out. I think it's a fun and harmless idea."
Clearly said by someone who is not fighting to get a child to concentrate on something more than TikTok and video games. The games and apps are being designed by AI to imprison the minds of our youth (and adults). The schools provide the tech (donated by Google) and require their omnipresence in a child's life. I wish to heaven that I could sit back as smugly as you. Unfortunately, I'm on the front lines of this war."
You seem tense. "
Yep. :|
A 15 y.o. with all the promise in the world (honors classes, fantastic at multiple sports, Lego, art, etc.) who struggles with techno-addiction will do that to you. Hence, MY Lego addiction to try to keep calm. I also read, work out, play a lot of sports, live music, and cooking. But, Lego is soooooo very relaxing.... click, click, click. ;)
@MeisterDad said:
"Speaking as one who has been recently traumatised by technology (more on this later), I can say that on the one hand this mix of physical and digital is less invasive and app-dependent than some of the other offerings, but on the other an app is an app is an app.
When I say trauma, I mean it: two of my boys, 13 and 14, sold all the LEGO I gave them over the years to buy personal use tablets. This was both heartbreaking and in my opinion, like “exchanging the truth for a lie.” I mean selling a Black Pearl, Temple of Airjitsu and a Harry Potter castle, among other things, for an ephemeral chunk of glass and plastic that will die in a few years at best? Now LEGO is a seldom used product in their lives.
With something like this initiative it might have extended their interest a short time, in particular if there were Star Wars or Ninjago versions for older kids, but the draw of the screen is a powerful one and in principle I don’t support it."
Ouch! You're in the rear guard. But, the orders sending you to the front are in dispatch. See you when you get here. God help you if also teach or coach like I have!
I commandeered all my boy's sets under the directive of, "I'm saving them for my grandchildren." Ha, ha!
Seriously though, I bought the Frozen castle at a steal last year, and I'm getting the Disney castle this year in the hopes I have a granddaughter some day. Damn, that sounds old. Yikes!
Good thing I have tickets to Strfckr. Need to go hang out with the cool kids. ;)
That's a nice spaceship parts pack
@PurpleDave said:
I agree it is a move in the right direction.
I do think it will increase the danger to the device inherent in inattention to it when it is abandoned. I like the sets but can live without the app integration - a phrase I say a lot in relation to Lego.
@Mr__Thrawn said:
" @Terreneflame said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
" @Brickchap said:
"
It is also important for kids to learn to turn pages (to read a book), be patient, and understand proper instructions in a book.
"
As toxic as a life of technology can be, I'm sorry, but this is the most Boomer thing I've ever read on this site and it unironically put me on the floor laughing, followed by rage, followed by more laughing. "Kid use mouse. kid must no use book!" is such a simple train of thought that has been thrown out so often it has completely lost all meaning.
Here's the thing pal, what you just wrote right there, those are words. You know how you get meaning out of words? You read them. Kids on the internet still read all the time. Just because its not inscribed on a dead tree doesn't make it any less valuable of data.
Kids are smarter than people give them credit for. If they can figure out how to open a can of Pringles or put a Switch into dock-mode they can figure out how to open a book.
So even super tech dependent kids know how to read, and even super tech dependent kids know how to open a book. You know what that means? They can read books!
This is an equally cliché and overused response to what you said but I'm gonna say it anyway. "Just because you don't know how to use a computer doesn't mean a child doesn't know how to read a book." Knowledge is not choosing one path or the other street. It's a complicated interweaving web of different sources of information, value of that information, and trust you put into that information.
There's some other tirades you could throw in there, like how books have their toxic side through things like tabloids, or how I bet the writer of this comment can't read a telegraph, but I'll just sum it up with:
The world changes. You don't have to blindly accept every innovation or alteration, but to reject them on principle that they are new and different, or to constantly insist what came before is best, is a selfish way of thinking. Your parents had different lifestyles and tech than you had, your kids will have different life and tech than you did. That's how time and generations work. Get over it and quit thinking your time of life was the peak of human evolution and innovation. "
Just feel I should point out that actually there are loads of kids who don’t read at all- they watch videos and play games, but give them a sentence (on paper or a screen) and they have no clue.
It is surprisingly common"
I'd be interested to see any statistics or other data to back up this claim. I personally know lots of kids who read, and I don't think I know a single child who does not read words whatsoever, excluding those at pre-literate ages. Really, there have always been kids that read more and kids that read less and kids that don't read at all- I personally learned to read at age 3 and I read tons of books, whereas I know many of people of all ages that don't read much- my dad hasn't read a book cover-to-cover in years, and he is, of course, older than I am.
It's also notable that most if not all video games targeted at an above-toddler-age require some level of literacy, in order to read instructions and such. "
I am a teacher, I have multiple secondary school pupils in my classes that can barely read, to the point where any written instruction can’t be accessed by them without it being read out loud to them.
Many many video games have spoken instructions, or kids figure out what to do by trial and error- you don’t need to read well to play fifa or call of duty :)
@Brickchap said:
"Argh for Christ's sake Lego get over your technology fetish. Kids have enough phones and games in their lives as it is, they need to discover the benefits of having time away from screens.
It is also important for kids to learn to turn pages (to read a book), be patient, and understand proper instructions in a book.
Regardless of whether you are a Lego fan, life is full of following instructions whether its assembling a new office desk or reading the fire escape plan for your building. You aren't going to have, and indeed, shouldn't need, an app for everything.
Things like this stifle creativity. The provided story tells the kids what to do, while the included bricks are hardly anything useful to create new models (they literally advertise adding a walkie talkie or handcuffs to the boat like its some huge modification or rebuild)
Kids will do the game thing for a little while, get bored and abandon the whole thing. It's also extremely limited to that specific theme like water police. You can't even make a police car, let alone a space ship or animal for example.
Normally kids make something by themselves and then often tell family members about it. This helps with their speech, interaction and vocabulary as well as overall creativity. With this, they will be glued to yet another screen, do the challenges (and likely chuck a tantrum because they can't do said challenges) and then go do some other computer/phone/ipad game.
What ever happened to kids just being given a bunch of random bricks and they come up with all kinds of things from their imagination, or instead build something according to book instructions to then play with (in the real world) and rebuild and redesign, add to their other sets etc?
It is deeply concerning that the Lego System of Play is now having to tell kids what to build, when to build and how to build just to get them engaged. (for 5 minutes or so)
"'Build safety gear", no build something you come up with yourself from your own imagination rather than needing some digital prompt! (or maybe just ask a family member or friend for suggestions, like you know, talk to people, socialise!)
"
+1
I don't understand the issue some people are having with these sets. Parents have to buy them for their kids - they don't just appear in their homes overnight, with the app install on it's way.
Presumably some parents like the idea of an interactive physical+digital Lego product. If these parents don't exist then these won't sell and I get some cheap space parts. If they do exist then it's a gateway to all the other sets Lego sells which are more 'normal'. I still get Space parts, probably still cheap.
We (us AFOLs, on this site) don't need to worry about how anyone's children are going to develop cognitive skills or learn to read or turn the pages in a book. Parents and educators do that (educators on this site - I salute you).
The parents that want their kids to learn & grow will do so in many different ways, including using Lego, maybe even these specific Lego sets. The parents that don't care won't be reached with these sets - they just won't invest the time, even if they buy them.
Lego putting out additional options is a Good Thing. Children learn in so so many ways, you can't pigeonhole them into the "by the book, with the bricks" traditional way all the time. It works for most, but for those it doesn't work for, this might.
I don't know if anybody wrote it yet as there are around 80 comments before mine and I haven't read them all, but imo one of the best ways to enhance children's (even one's) creativity was what Lego was doing long time ago: you bought a set and inside or at the back of the box you had pictures of other really nice (not always!) builds you could create with the same pieces. And sometimes, as a kid, you wondered how these guys from Lego did to build that model and tried to make it. Then you discovered the difficulty of it, the skills you needed to build it, thinking about what pieces hidden by the angle of the picture could achieve that shape. And once it was - more or less - done, you built a nice - at least for you - little setting or a complement for it, sometimes grabbing other pieces to finish it.
You didn't even need an application or content that may not be available in a few years.
@District928:
It’s out there, 17th comment from the top (do a page search for the 5th instance of the word “box”), and again 28th from the top (6th “box”). The problem with this is that, when they used to do it in the past, non-AFOL parents (who buy the most product, and therefore must be appeased for the ongoing health of the company) would scorch their ears off with complaints to Customer Service about missing instructions, missing parts, etc. In extreme cases, people think you should be able to build every model on the box simultaneously, which is probably why Creator 3-in-1 sets are carefully shown to involve three alternate builds, and Designer sets probably only showed you models that actually could be built together when the instructions might show how to build dozens of alternate models using the same parts. The only other major source of inspirational builds seems to be published books. They probably don’t get many complaints about missing parts with those. Maybe a few, though.