Lego Life of George

Lego Life of George (stylized as LEGO Life of George) was a Lego theme that for the first time, combined standard Lego bricks with a mobile app (for iOS and Android).^[2][3][4] The theme was first introduced in October 2011. It was eventually discontinued by the end of December 2013.

Lego Life of George

Subject	The combination of construction sets and game app
Licensed from	The Lego Group
Availability	October 2011–December 2013
Total sets	2^[1]
Official website

Overview

Lego Life of George was the first Lego product line designed to provide an experience that combines both physical and digital play. ^[5][6][7] This has been described by The Lego Group as "fluid play".^[8] Users built their own 2D models as fast as possible and scanned them by using an app named Life of George. The product line included Life of George toy sets that contained 144 pieces of Lego bricks, a play mat and an app.^[9][10] The toy sets were marketed at children aged 8+ or above.

Development

Lego Life of George was developed by EyeCue, an Israeli technology company.^[11][12] The patented brick recognition technology was invented by Ronen Horovitz, CEO and founder of EyeCue.^[11][12] Head of the New Business Group at Lego, Paal Smith-Meyer explained, "For some the main driver was to see how can the digital really inspire kids to build more and play more physically," and continued, "So we're looking at this kind of play loop where you create something and then use it in a digital space and that play would then inspire you to go back, physically, and play more.”^[13]

Construction sets

According to Bricklink, The Lego Group released a total of two Lego sets as part of the Lego Life of George theme.^[1] The product line was eventually discontinued by the end of 2013.^[14]

Lego Life of George was launched on 1 October 2011. As part of the marketing campaign, The Lego Group released Life of George 1 (set number: 21200) alongside the theme's associated app.^{[5][15][16][17][4][18]} In 2012, The Lego Group released Life of George 2 (set number: 21201) an upgraded version alongside the theme's associated app.^[19][20] Both sets contained 144 pieces of Lego bricks, a play mat, "Getting Started" guide, George sticker and an app.

Apps

Life of George

An app titled Life of George was a puzzle video game developed by The Lego Group for the operating systems iOS and Android. It was released on 1 October 2011.^[21] The game mode featured 1 player and 2 player mode. It had 12 game levels for Life of George 1 (set number: 21200) and 13 game levels for Life of George 2 (set number: 21201). A Creation Mode named "My life" allowed builders to keep their own album of models and creations. It also sent the images to other the users in the app.^{[5][4][22][23]} The Life of George app was discontinued on 1 February 2015.^[24]

Build Your Brain

An app titled Build Your Brain was the second puzzle video game developed by The Lego Group for the operating systems iOS and Android. It was released on 3 August 2012.^[21] The game mode included multiplayer mode. The challenge mode included Silhouette challenges, Logic puzzles, Bonus modes, Memory challenges and Shape Finding.^[22][25] The Build Your Brain app was discontinued on 1 February 2015.^[24]

Awards and nominations

In 2013, Lego Life of George was nominated "Toy of the Year" and also "E-Connected Toy" by the Toy Association.^[26]

The app won the 2012 SXSW Interactive Awards in the "Amusement" category.^[27]

See also

• Lego Fusion
• Lego Ultra Agents
• Nexo Knights
• Lego BrickHeadz
• Lego Hidden Side
• Lego Super Mario
• Lego Vidiyo

References

1. "BrickLink Reference Catalog - Sets - Category Lego Life of George". www.bricklink.com. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
2. The Lego Group (September 29, 2011). "LEGO Group Unveils First Fully Integrated Digital-to-Physical Gaming Experience". PR Newswire.
3. "Lego Tries Augmented Reality With "Life Of George" Game". TechCrunch. 2011-09-29.
4. Terdiman, Daniel (September 29, 2011). "New Lego game combines physical bricks, iPhone app". CNET. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
5. "LEGO Life of George game combines iPhone and real LEGOs". Engadget. 29 September 2011.
6. Baichtal, John (November 16, 2011). "Lego's Life of George Takes Building to the Smartphone". Wired. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
7. "Smart Lego Minifigures Could Become Reality With 'Lego Dimensions'". Forbes. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
8. "Bits N' Bricks Season 1 Episode 2: Fluid Play" (PDF). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
9. Ringen, Jonathan (2015-08-01). "How Lego Became The Apple Of Toys". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
10. Rey Lee, Jonathan (2020-10-13). Deconstructing LEGO: The Medium and Messages of LEGO Play. Springer Nature Switzerland AG. p. 112. ISBN 978-3-030-53667-1.
11. "LEGO Life of George". Eyecue Tech. 21 November 2013.
12. "Bits N' Bricks Season 3 Episode 32: The Life (and Legacy) of George Feature and Transcript" (PDF). Retrieved 8 September 2021.
13. "How the LEGO Group Blends the Physical and Digital to Create New Forms of Play". Pad and Pixel. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
14. "Life of George LEGO Sets". BrickEconomy. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
15. "LEGO Group unveils first fully integrated digital-to-physical gaming experience". Brickset. 29 September 2011.
16. "LEGO Digital to Physical Gaming Experience". toysnbricks.com. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
17. "Lego's first iPhone app-and-bricks game, Life of George; $29.99". ZDNet. 29 September 2011.
18. Buckleitner, Warren (2011-10-11). "App judges your LEGO building skill". Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
19. "LEGO Life of a George 2 – Now Available". toysnbricks.com. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
20. LEGO Life of George - Game Introduction. August 16, 2012 – via YouTube.
21. "Reconstruct the Life of George from Physical Bricks in This LEGO-Powered Gaming App". Kotaku. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
22. "Lego Life of George (21200, 21201) Review (Build Your Brain with George): Awesome!". everydaybricks.com. 29 September 2011.
23. Pavlus, John (2015-08-01). "Lego's iPhone App: A Brilliant Mix Of Physical And Digital Play". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
24. "LEGO Life of George Apps Being Discontinued". thebrickfan.com. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
25. "10 Best iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone games this week". The Guardian. 23 August 2012.
26. "2013 TOTY Winners". The Toy Association. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
27. "SXSW Interactive Announces Winners of the 2012 Interactive Awards | ProductionHUB". ProductionHUB.com. Retrieved 2022-03-09.

External links

• Official website^{[dead link]}