Life of George turns Lego building into an iOS game
Have you ever wanted some form of evaluation for your Lego model-building expertise? Other than, of course, your overbearing mother patting you on your head, telling you that you're her "most special little construction worker?" The Lego Group has come up with a clever way for you to receive the positive reinforcement you crave: By playing Life of George, an iOS title which tasks you with recreating objects with Lego bricks, judging you on your speed and accuracy.
It does so using a $30 kit that you can purchase from the Lego store starting October 1, which includes all the requisite bricks and a "green screen-like" building mat. Players can build co-operatively to recreate 120 different models, or build their own models that will then be playable once they're scanned into the game. Check out more details in the press release posted after the jump, you most special little construction worker, you.
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LEGO GROUP UNVEILS FIRST FULLY INTEGRATED DIGITAL-TO-PHYSICAL GAMING EXPERIENCE
- Combining physical building with a digital gaming application, LEGO® Life of George invites builders to test building skills in a race against time-
BILLUND, Denmark, September 29, 2011 – The LEGO Group today announced LEGO® Life of George, its first product to combine digital and physical play for a hands-on LEGO gaming experience. Featuring patent-pending brick recognition software, powered by EyeCue, the game challenges players to build models, and place them on a play mat that acts as a "green screen" to capture the image and receive a score based on accuracy and speed. Beginning October 1, 2011, players can purchase the LEGO Life of George set for $29.99 from LEGO Stores and shop.lego.com and download the free Apple iOS compatible gaming application.
LEGO Life of George is a 12-level game that can be played in novice or expert mode. Each level showcases an adventure from George, around whom the game revolves, and is comprised of models of varying difficulty based on the number of bricks needed and the building techniques required to replicate them. Builders are challenged to physically recreate the virtual models from George's photo album using the LEGO bricks included with the game; once they have successfully completed all 10 models the next level will be unlocked.
In addition to Game Mode which can be played alone or against one competitor in a pass-and-play format, a Creation Mode called "My Life" enables users to design and capture their own models in the app's virtual scrapbook.
"We understand consumers' powerful connection to casual gaming, and we have seen how successfully the LEGO brand can translate to a virtual experience, so we pursued development of a fun way to combine both physical and virtual play into one product," says Paal Smith-Meyer, head of new business at LEGO Group. "Life of George is a result of our desire to provide an innovative way for existing and new fans to play with LEGO bricks and interact with the brand."
Who is George?
George is a software engineer by day and adventurer by night. His main hobbies are travel, photography and numbers, and has a fun storyline for players to follow and engage with via his Facebook page, I Am George. Fans can expect to see updates and photography from George on his travels as well as hints to new game levels and app updates through his posts.
