Mattel Bloxels Build Your Own Video Game - Discontinued from Manufacturer

I first saw Bloxels at a Mini Maker Event with my 8 year old and got very excited to get it for him for Christmas. I love the concept of being able to make your own video game, all on your own, complete with your own characters and villains. I also like the fact that it simulates the old school video games. We went through the challenges after Christmas and he was able to complete it with no issues. What I thought would probably be one of his favorite gifts was not so. It actually became one of my favorite gifts. He hasn't taken to it yet and isn't interested in even starting his own game. However, he will happily play the games I create. I got a bit confused when I started to build my game. But after that, I understood the steps and my games have been improving.I have to admit, I'm a bit addicted to this app. Many things such as characters, animations and props can be made/built directly on the app. However, if you want to add "brains" to the enemies, such as the size, power, coins collected when defeated, etc. that needs to be built on the board. And YES, you need a tablet to play and build. I believe you can also use a phone but the screens would be too small in my opinion.I do agree that the photo capture functionality needs some work. Most of the time it doesn't capture the correct block color. There's an adjust functionality after you capture the photo to adjust the color of blocks and sometimes that works but a lot of times I have to retake the photo over and over again. So now I only use the board to add brains to the enemies I create.I read in the reviews that other buyers found there aren't enough blocks in this set. This is a starter set and you can buy additional blocks to add. However, I find there is enough to build characters and props for my games. If not and you need more blocks you can capture your photo then go in and edit and add the additional blocks in the app.If your child is really into programming, coding and building their own games I would definitely recommend this. If they are only interested in playing video games, like my son, then maybe not so much. I think perhaps when he's a little older he may be interested in creating his own game. I would say the age group would be 8+

Excellent Technology based activity for kids. It is even fun for me the adult who bought it. There is a learning curve to using the blocks with a tablet and setting up a game world. The worlds themselves are extremely versital and can be created however you can imagine it.The downside is that the lighting has to be just right for camera recognition to get the colors of the blocks right. That is important as the colors map out what the surfaces in the game are: solid ground, water, fire/lava, exploding blocks and so on. Also, making use of the vast array of user created content is a challenge as there are so many options and choosing what is needed is tough. Finally kids will need parental help initially working out which template to use: gameboard, character, background.It is fun and worth the initial effort

So annoying! Camera does not accurately pick up what was built on the board - no matter what angle I use. Bought 12 for use in a STEM lab. Going to return them all.*****Update: After talking back and forth on Twitter and email with Bloxels support (which is wonderful) we seem to have found the issue. I was trying to use my Samsung phone, my husband was using his LG phone and we could not get the images to capture. Upon Bloxels advice, I tried using the capture on an iPad Air. This proved to be much more successful. It is still frustrating to me that I couldn't get it to work on my phone, but it was intended to be used at my school and iPad Airs are what we have - so it all works out.I give Bloxels 5 stars for the fun factor - extremely inventive and fun.They get 5 stars for their support. I was given a direct phone number for a specific support personnel and was told to call anytime.They get 3 stars for instructions. The book included was very hard to follow. I did eventually find some Bloxels resources online, but had to search for them. Youtube videos proved most valuable.They get 2 stars for the annoyance of the camera only working on 1/3 devices.They get 3 stars for the ease of use for teachers. Right now kids need to sign up for accounts (and be over 13yrs of age) in order to share their games and play others. They need to have email addresses to sign up. Bloxels said they are working on this. We'll see how long this takes.I decided to keep them. If you are going to buy a bunch for a school, go through the Bloxels website - they give bulk discounts. I didn't realize that until it was too late.

Precies zoals op de foto. Maar als je het spel wil spelen op de tablet, moet je ook nog de app betalen. Dit is eenmalig, maar kost wel weer 20 euro! Dit valt flink tegen!

No parece tan divertido, a mis hijos (8 y 6 años) nunca les llamó la atención la caja, varias veces se los mostré en la juguetería sin éxito, pero cuando lo recibieron como regalo les fascinó porque les permite crear sus propios personajes y mundos de videojuego 👾 Pixel por Pixel y crean los cuadros de movimientos que tendrá de una manera muy intuitiva.

we had purchased this for our 10 year old to play with. Turns out to be hours and hours of fun! The child can draw with with the cubes various characters and game items. Then take pictures and import their creations into the game and then instantly becomes playable! They were so excited to see their creations come alive and be used in a game!Awesome product and would buy again5/5 stars!

Highly recommended. My 10 year old daughter has thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with the different features in the app and building, uploading and playing the games she has made. She has taken great enjoyment in checking how many others have played her game too! She used the game board to begin with, designing her first room layout and character, but as this feature is also within the app she quickly found that she preferred using this rather than using the physical game board and blocks - so although this is a great idea, in practice I have found the physical element of the game board and blocks to be redundant.

Total genial. Macht auch so einfach Spass die kleinen Blöcke zu stecken. Aber wenn man dich seine eigene Welt bauen ksnn und diese dann auf dem Laptop zockt, ist das doch wohl genial. Mein Sohn ist jedenfalls total begeistert.