I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole lot when it comes to video games.  My kids certainly know way more than I do, but even my girls aren’t super crazy over video games.  But THIS has been a game changer – haha – see what I did there? GAME changer. 

 Bloxels is a unique combination of hands-on toy activity and video game creating.   What kid doesn’t want to create a video game instead of just playing one?  The manipulatives combined with an app that you download to play the game brings this product to the next level in video games, critical thinking, HTML coding and more! It helps STEM come to life in our home in a fun and exciting way. 

 Each color block represents something like water, terrain, enemy, coin, hazard, or story.   So depending on where you place the blocks – you can literally create your own story within the game!  

 After you place the colored blocks where you want them, and after you create your own hero, you use the app to take a picture of your creation and it instantly becomes a video game! It amazes me how it can bridge the gap between the physical world and the virtual gaming world.  You can keep adding more art and animation and room layout and keep building your game.  You can even use advanced tools to adjust the physics of the game like how fast your hero runs or how high he jumps.   It was really interesting to see how as the girls started to play their game, how they had to go back and fix different things because it wasn’t logical or practical.  There is so much critical thinking, problem solving and out of the box brain processing built into this game!

 Any kind of learning activity, game or toy that piques the interest of the 21-year-old college kid and the 10-year-old, and those in between is a product well made in my opinion!  It is geared towards ages 8 and up but is fascinating for any age – even adults! 

 As with most Timberdoodle products, this will definitely be part of our homeschooling days!  It will be a product that can be very simple or very complex in its learning and processing. 

 You can even share and collaborate with other Bloxel players and let them play the gameboard you have created!  

Bloxels is a product that crosses the age gaps in our home – and will be well used for MANY years to come! As always – Bentley, the world’s cutest dog also approved. You can find Bloxels at Timberdoodle and also as part of the second grade curriculum kit. 

I was sent this product to review as a member of Timberdoodle’s blog team.  All opinions are strictly my own. 

The Extraordinaires Design Studio 

Tenzi Dice and Card Game