PixARK

My kids have been off school this week for Spring Break and are having a great time being some of the first people to play the new open world voxel-based sandbox survival video game PixARK on our Xbox One. Thanks Snail Games for sending a free early access pass our way! In PixArk,  players find themselves on a mysterious island filled with dinosaurs and mythical creatures where everything is built out of three-dimensional voxel cubes.  To survive you must hunt, grow crops, build shelters and craft items to overcome vicious creatures and natural hazards.

Being a sandbox style game there isn't a structured script to play through; but rather players make their way through open worlds tackling randomly generated landscapes and challenges which makes every time someone plays unique. You start off the game with just an animal skin to wear and your wits to rely on. By developing resources and skills though, players can learn to build high tech and magical tools as well as design structures they can build that can range from basic shelters to avoid the elements to magnificent fortresses to serve as a home base. Plus there are over 100 dinosaurs and other creatures that can be tames, trained and ridden.  PixARK can be played either as a single player game or in online multi-player mode where you can work cooperatively as a team to take on opposing tribes of other players to be rulers of an island.



Player characters can be customized to be male or female with different available selections for hair styles, facial features, clothing outfits and more.  My daughter liked pig tails were an option to choose from when creating her character.  As you progress through the game, there are ongoing ways to enhance the functionality and styling of the outfit your character wears.  Acquiring new abilities, clothing and tools allows players to begin crafting their own dream world with infrastructure and structures to civilize a game map's wild environment.

If you are interested in playing the game now it is available for $24.99 on Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview.  Snail Games will be using this early access period to gather feedback for eliminating potential glitches and making additional improvements before the PixARK's final release later in 2018.  The game will eventually be available via retail and digital distribution for PC, Microsoft Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 4 entertainment system and the Nintendo Switch.

Even though it is a pre-release version of the game, PixARK has still been a real hit with our family.  My kids have really been excited to explore the various landscapes that include arctic ice fields, deserts, jungles, mountains and swamps that are filled with amazing animals and monsters to discover.  They've been thrilled about taming dinosaurs and riding them all about.  That is probably their favorite part of the game.  Plus they've been having a lot of fun imagining up and building their own unique castles.  The kids are only in the early stages of the game too so there is much more things to discover and excitement to come!

As a parent, I appreciate that pixARK involves problem-solving, has strategic elements, promotes STEM concepts, and its sandbox format provides a lot of freedom to utilize one's creativity and imagination within its gameplay. You won't achieve success in this game just with brawn, players need to flex their brains to get ahead. Though there is some battling and dueling that takes place as part of the action in the game's adventures too.  In the end though this game isn't about winning or losing but rather having fun exploring and building your own fantasy world.    

For more information about this new video game from Snail Games, head over to pixark.snail.com or follow the video game's Twitter feed @OfficalpixARK

LEGO WORLDS Celebrates Christmas with a Winter Wonderland

Add to your Christmas cheer by having some fun with the new free downloadable Winter Wonderland themed expansion to the LEGO WORLDS video game.  This game lets you play with classic LEGO toys within digital worlds that are shaped by players' imaginations.  Spend your time creating your own playscape in sandbox mode from LEGO accessories, mini-figures and bricks or participate in a variety of challenges and missions that the game presents for you to take on in its adventure setting.  Now you can enjoy winter themed characters, vehicles and places that are sure to put you in the holiday spirit while you play the game.



Past expansion packs (Space / Monsters) have cost $3.99 to download but the Winter Wonderland DLC is free.  If you are just purchasing LEGO WORLDS for the first time this holiday themed content will be included with your initial install on your video game console or PC.  For those of you who already have the game you'll need to install an update that can be easily downloaded.  Have yourself some fun exploring a new location that includes a village decorated in holiday lights, an ice castle, and snow covered landscapes.

In Adventure Mode you can find the Winter Wonderland Biome on the outside edge of your galaxy map.  Just look for a world map with a big candy cane on it. After exploring the Winter Wonderland, players will then be able to find it in the  “Create  New World” option which will let you customize the place to your liking and utilize its accessories, buildings, mini-figures, and vehicles as you like within the game's sandbox mode.

Unlock new playable characters such as carol singers and penguins with the Winter Wonderland expansion to LEGO WORLDS.  Fly Santa's Sleigh through the sky or take a toy airplane for a flight.

Decorate your world with Christmas Trees or build yourself an ice castle.  There are numerous new accessories and buildings added to your Brick Build Showcase.  Have fun discovering all the new objects and elements now available on LEGO WORLDS through the Winter Wonderland DLC.  This really is a wonderful way for LEGO to wish people a Merry Christmas through the gift of this new expansion pack.

LEGO WORLDS is available for PlayStation 4, XBOX One, STEAM and Nintendo Switch.  Based upon all the fun my family has had playing this great game, this game absolutely has earned A GEEK DADDY nod of approval.  We had a blast playing the Monsters Pack during Halloween and my kids have been having a great time with the Winter Wonderland in the days leading up to Christmas.  For more information, please visit lw.wbgames.com or check out their social media feeds on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

Blast off to an Outer Space Adventure with LEGO Worlds Expansion Pack

** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **

The first downloadable themed content pack for LEGO Worlds is now available and it lets the video game's players blast off on outer space adventures.  This DLC pack (extra content you can purchase to enhance a video game by downloading it from the Internet) costs $3.99.  The new content includes brand new quests, characters, builds, and vehicles inspired from the popular LEGO Space toy playsets.  LEGO Worlds takes the fun of playing with the iconic building bricks and mini-figures and transports it to a digital playground where players can unleash their imaginations in creating unique landscapes and adventures in a sandbox environment themed around LEGO toys.



Players can blast off and explore the farthest reaches of space and embark on new adventures within the game as they traverse between Worlds in a new space-themed PUG-Z, explore a new Space Theme World, or build a customized Space Station with Rocket Launchers in the new Moon biome.  My kids just like goofing around in outer space though!  My daughter loves playing soccer on the moon while my son likes bringing the game's original accessories, characters, and vehicles into outer space.  They've been having a lot of fun trying out all the new features included within the new LEGO Worlds Classic Space DLC Pack.

Take a moon buggy for a spin, battle robotic monsters and discover alien friends within the content of this space themed DLC pack.  While my kids enjoyed trying out all the new stuff available in the video game, I was excited to discover that the buildings and spaceships had the same appearance as the LEGO toys that I played with as a kid in the '80s.  Talk about a walk down memory lane!  Yet while the new content has an 1980s vibe to it, the DLC Pack also provides the special effects and digital capabilities that delight today's kids.

LEGO Worlds is a galaxy of imaginative worlds made of digital LEGO bricks where players can explore, discover and create together. The game is currently available for PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, and STEAM and will be coming to the Nintendo Switch™ in Fall 2017. For more information, visit www.lego.com/en-us/worlds.

Classic Space Expansion Pack coming to LEGO Worlds

"Classic Space," the first downloadable themed content pack for the LEGO Worlds video game will be available to purchase beginning July 5, 2017 for $3.99.  The expansion pack will include brand new quests, characters, builds, and vehicles inspired from the popular LEGO Space toy playsets.  LEGO Worlds takes the fun of playing with the iconic building bricks and mini-figures and transports it to a digital playground where players can unleash their imaginations in creating unique landscapes and adventures in a sandbox environment themed around LEGO toys.



The new expansion pack will allow players to blast off and explore the farthest reaches of space! It will allow you to travel across the video games various Worlds in a Space Buggy, fly around in a Space Cruiser, excavate the new Moon biome with the Mineral Detector, or land a spaceship on the new Classic Space Theme World.  If you you are a fan of LEGO's space themed physical toys you won't want to miss out playing with these digital reproductions in this video game.  I know my kids will have a blast utilizing the "Classic Space" add-on within their LEGO Worlds experiences.

LEGO Worlds Video Game: Updates + Sandbox Mode

There has been a major update to the LEGO Worlds video game that is playable on Playstation 4, Xbox One and STEAM.  Now players no longer need to complete the game's adventure mode to access its freestyle building sandbox mode.  People who have purchased the game can download this free update which adds LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS and LEGO City characters, creatures, structures, props and vehicles as well as immediately unlocks sandbox mode.  The update also fixes and improves the game's user interface to make the menus and tools easier to use.

The biggest aspect of the update is providing immediate unlimited access to sandbox mode which allows players to let their imagination run wild in designing their own world made from LEGO bricks, accessories and mini-figures.   Players can now skip the LEGO Worlds' tutorials and adventure mode if they desire because all of the elements of the game are now unlocked for them in sandbox mode.  Customizing their own landscapes, buildings and characters is what my kids really enjoy about this game but they've been limited because its been a slow progression for them through the adventure mode to gain access to a variety of things that are now automatically accessible through the unlocked sandbox mode.  They love this update!



My kids are also very excited that the video game has added elements of two of their favorite LEGO themes to it in LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS and LEGO City.  That is just the beginning though!  Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games, and The LEGO Group are promising more new themes are coming based off of the existing LEGO toy sets.  With a LEGO Ninjago movie coming to theaters don't be surprised to see that theme pop up soon.  I'm personally hoping for a Speed Champions theme with some racing options in it to really get my interest in joining my kids playing this game.  What LEGO toy products would you like to see incorporated into the game?

For more information, please visit  lego.com/en-us/worlds

LEGO WORLDS Video Game

 ** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **

After successfully taking on Disney Infinity and Skylanders in the toys-to-life video game category by creating the highly successful LEGO Dimensions, The LEGO Group has set their sights on tackling another gaming franchise popular with kids and young adults -- > Minecraft.  LEGO Worlds developed by TT Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment allows players to explore a galaxy of fantastical planets that contain inhabitants and landscapes made up entirely of LEGO's trademark toy mini-figures and building bricks. Embark on a quest to become a Master Builder within this open-world video game that provides players to power to shape both the environment around them and the scope of their adventures.  In LEGO Worlds your own creativity and imagination are often times the only limitation to the extent of the adventures you can engage in and creations that can be built within the game. 

LEGO Worlds, like its predecessor Minecraft, is what is referred to as a sandbox game which means that players have a great deal of flexibility in shaping the virtual environment they are playing in.  A sandbox game focuses on bringing people's imaginations to life through constructing and customizing a virtual world to play in.  LEGO Worlds takes the fun of playing with real-life physical LEGO toys and expands upon it in an entertaining video game experience.  This game has really been a hit with my kids primarily because they can have fun just being creative doing whatever suits their whims as they are playing it.  Creating world layouts, constructing their own building designs from LEGO bricks, and customizing the appearance of a player's mini-figure character are really what capture my kids attention.

LEGO Worlds begins with a video sequence that shows your character flying a spaceship that is suddenly hit by a meteorite forcing it to crash land on a mysterious planet.  This sets the stage for three tutorial levels players need to make their way through.   In these levels new characters and vehicles can be added to your playable assets  Players also obtain a variety of tools to help them create things and customize the world around them in these levels.  Short instructional video segments explain how to utilize these important tools once they are obtained. Challenges within the level then let a player practice using them.



The game starts with your character crash landing on Pirate World. While exploring this first tutorial level players will learn to utilize the Discovery Tool.  This device allows animals, buildings, mini-figures (both friends and foes), and vehicles to be scanned and catalogs them in a gallery which players can access to place these items within the game whenever they like.

Next players travel to a Prehistoric World where they learn to use the Landscape Tool which raises and lowers terrain.  Rescue several cave men and cave women from dangerous situations to successfully complete the level and move on to Candy World.

The final tutorial level is filled with giant candy canes, lollipops and gingerbread houses and provides players with three more useful items -- the Copy, Paint and Build tools.  Don't want to try and build a structure brick-by-brick? Use the Copy Tool to replicate an already completed building instead.  Want to change the color of a building or the landscape around you? Go wild with the Paint Tool.  If you would prefer building a structure from bottom to top instead of replicating one the Build Tool lets players construct things just as if they were building with real life LEGO bricks.  Note though you start off with a very limited number of accessible bricks to utilize and earn more of a variety progressing through the game.

Once you've completed the three tutorial levels and obtained these important tool options then it is time to jump into your space ship and explore the galaxy.  You'll be transported to randomly computer-generated planets each time your character launches the space ship into outer space.  Planets our family have visited so far include an apocalyptic junk world filled with cowboys and bandits, a swampland filled with alligators and spooky walking skeletons, and a farming community being plagued by zombies.  This game is filled with lots and lots of the quirky, whimsical elements that people associate with LEGO (ride a cow, use a fish as a sword, throw a banana like a boomerang) and love about the brand.

Unlike LEGO Dimensions this game isn't focused on licensed properties like Batman, The Simpsons, or Sonic the Hedgehog.  Rather the content of the game revolves around generic themes from the LEGO toy line such as astronauts, farmers, police, and pirates.  There aren't any physical toys sets that need to be purchased for activating characters in this game like you need to do with LEGO Dimensions.  When it comes to LEGO Worlds as you discover different types of people, animals and vehicles in the game they can be incorporated into your gallery of digital playable items by scanning them with your Discovery Tool.

Players also can earn points as they play LEGO Worlds that can be utilized to obtain virtual reproductions of real-life LEGO classic and current toy sets that can be placed within the game and interacted with.  The goal of LEGO Worlds though isn't to earn points but rather to become a Master Builder by getting your hands on 100 of the elusive gold bricks that can be found within the game.  The more gold bricks players obtain the larger and more immersive worlds they can interact with ranging from small worlds that can be accessed with ten bricks to huge ones that can be visited when you've grabbed eighty.  When 100 gold bricks are obtained players are no longer restricted to visiting randomly generated planets and can construct a world from scratch using their tools any item they've unlocked within the game.  Gold bricks can be obtained by finding them in treasure chests, as rewards for successfully completing a quest, or by snatching one from creatures called a Troublemakers.

The game can be played by two people at once on a console or an online feature can be utilized that allows multiple players to explore each other's worlds together, collaborate on building LEGO creations, and engage in cooperative or competitive experiences.  My kids have played duel player mode but haven't interacted online with anyone.  They've had a lot of fun both working together and harassing each other.  One minute they're getting along together racing on horses through a jungle and the next my son is throwing his sister into a lava filled volcano because her character stole a popsicle from his.  That's kids for you!

The immersive environment of LEGO Worlds which entices kids to engage in imaginative play earns this video game A Geek Daddy nod of approval.  I have to point out though that this game isn't just for kids.  After my children have gone to bed, this 40 something year old dad has enjoyed playing LEGO Worlds to wind down after a long day.  So obviously LEGO Worlds is a fun game for both kids and kids-at-heart.  Based upon my family's own experience playing LEGO Worlds, I recommend adding it to your video game collection.

LEGO Worlds is now available in North America for Sony's PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, Microsoft's Xbox One, and the STEAM online PC gaming community.  The game will also be available for Nintendo Switch later this year.  For more information, please visit www.lego.com/en-us/worlds