Lego Fusion mixes physical and virtual play (pictures)

For the first time, Lego has come out with a product that blends the physical -- plastic bricks -- with the digital. It thinks the "infinity loop" between the two worlds will keep kids busy for hours and hours.

Daniel Terdiman

Daniel Terdiman is a senior writer at CNET News covering Twitter, Net culture, and everything in between.

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Daniel Terdiman

June 19, 2014 3:00 a.m. PT

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Town Master

Lego today announced its brand-new Fusion line, its first-ever product that mixes physical bricks and the virtual world of a mobile game.

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Battle Towers

In each of the four $35 (£20, AU$37) sets, Lego tasks kids with building with their plastic bricks and then transforming them into the mobile game. The four sets are Battle Towers, Town Master, Resort Designer, and Create and Race.

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Resort Designer

Resort Designer, which invites up to five kids to build a resort together, comes out in the US in September. The other three sets will be released in August, with availability in the rest of the world yet to be announced.

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Create and Race

In Create and Race, kids will build cars with Lego bricks, and then race them or battle with them in the mobile app.

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Scanning

The basic premise of Lego Fusion is simple: Make a facade of a house or building -- or a whole car -- and then scan it with the mobile app. That brings the creation into the mobile game.

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Tower facade

A look at the facade of a tower for Battle Towers. Kids can build just about anything they want and then import them into the digital game.

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Scanning a tower

Using the mobile app, a player scans a tower.

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Town Master gameplay

Once kids' creations have been imported into the mobile game, they try to complete missions, which often task them with building new creations with their plastic bricks. Lego is hoping this "infinity loop" will keep kids endlessly interested.

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Town Master set

A look at the contents of the Town Master set, and the mobile app.

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Battle Towers set

A look at the Battle Towers set, and the mobile app.

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Battle Towers gameplay

As players build their towers, they will have to defend them against attack. That gameplay may require them to build additional pieces of the tower with plastic bricks.