It's a simple idea, use the potential of games on mobile devices and combine it with physical toys.
1. Life of George
Cost: Box ~£29.95 on Amazon, App free
This game is a combination of Lego bricks, a special board and a free to download app from the Apple App store (iPhone etc only at the moment).
The idea is to work through a sort of scrapbook of flat pictures you can make out of the lego selection provided - as fast as you can - then use the camera on your iPad2 or iPhone to capture it (this is where the special board comes in as it reads against the dots). It scores you based on accuracy and speed (time allowed is dependent on the difficulty - some are quite hard surprisingly!).
Once you complete a page of the scrapbook you are invited to post it up to Facebook etc. You can also play in two player mode (same thing but one at a time) or create your own scrapbook by photographing your own creations.
This has gone down really well with competitive adults I know as well as the kids. You can tell the people who are taking it too seriously as they start colour and size sorting all the bricks before they start...
More about Life of George on the product website
2. AppMates
Cost: Car ~£15 on Amazon, App free
This game uses a small plastic car (I've got Lightening McQueen) which when you hold by the special conductive side windows lets the iPad read the direction and position of the car on the screen.
Once you've got the iPad reading the car (it can be a little fussy if it's cold or you haven't got a good grip!) then you can start exploring the world. You can drive where you like and will meet characters who set you 'quests' or challenge you to races. As you progress you can collect hubcaps and trade them in for upgrades (like rainbow tyre tracks).
There are some impressive aspects to the game - like when you park you car in front of a mirror and can see all your accessories in the mirror.
The car wheels don't go round - its really about pointing the car where you want it to go, not moving it. For a house like mine with lots of boys toys lying around, this is an easy toy to lose. Have found it several times tidied away with the rest of our normal toy cars...
More about AppMates on the product website
What next?
I've been trying to think of other ways you could develop this idea of mobile meets physical, but it does seem that it has mostly kid/game potential. The AppMates game also works with your fingers - you don't need the car, so for any adult purposes you could just use the app as normal.
The lego model gives potential for ways in which you can capture physical creations in a digital way - we thought maybe cross stich or Hama bead designs?
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