Lego wants to build on its success following its first feature film that garnered much praise and success at the box office by launching a new app for tablets and smartphones that will give users more time to play while on the go.
It is the evolution of the Lego brand as it continues to modernize and create connectivity on multiple platforms.
The game is being called Town Master and in many ways it is Lego's version of SimCity, where users can create homes, shops, restaurants and any other ideas that come to mind for their town and city. It is also sensor-filled since it has Qualcomm Vuforia technology that will help create unique towns for each individual user.
Some observers argue that with the limited bricks -- you only get 200 to work with and can only create structures that are 16-by-16 bricks wide and tall -- it could be a hard test for users who want to develop larger buildings and more massive structures. But that could come soon with future updates.
The purchase of the app game comes with the 200 physical bricks that can be developed, along with the app.
The idea from Lego is that once you build your physical creations, then you can take your tablet or smartphone and take a photo on top of the Fusion Capture Plate, which will then allow the images to be put into the game. From there, the virtual world a user creates is entirely up to them.
At $34.99, the game aims to bridge the gap between physical Lego use and the virtual world, but also adding a bit of interaction and fantasy elements into the mix. It will be available on both Android and iOS.
Employing the Vuforia augmented reality software platform should give users the "best and most creative" experience as they develop their town, developers Qualcomm said in a statement.
"The Vuforia platform uses superior, stable, and technically efficient computer vision-based image recognition and offers the widest set of features and capabilities, giving developers the freedom to extend their visions without technical limitations," Qualcomm stated.
With access on all available operating systems, the new virtual/physical game should be a winner for those seeking out new Lego opportunities. Most observers are excited about the possibility of bringing together the physical nature of Lego with the ability to continue to work on your town outside of the traditional blocks that have for decades been Lego's brand.
