We’ve been following along with the development of the LEGO Hidden Side project for some time now. Earlier this we got to speak with LEGO when they first announced Hidden Side, and then we saw the sets in person at Toy Fair.
Now, LEGO has kindly sent us one of the sets to try out, and it’s everything we hoped for and more.
As a reminder, LEGO Hidden Side is set in the town of Newbury, Jack and Parker are two observant kids who start to notice that hauntings appear to be happening everywhere. After talking with Professor JB, the three of them decide to start hunting down the ghosts with special equipment and their customized school bus with ghost detecting equipment.
LEGO sent us set number 70420, Graveyard Mystery. The set consists of 335 pieces across two bags with an included set of decals.
Once we built the set, we immediately fell in love with it. The possessed groundskeeper minifigure is just fantastic to look at, and his hair is amazing. But then you get to the Ghost Dog, and… we want a bag of just Ghost Dogs. This is such an adorable little character.
As to the set itself, it’s an easy build, and even for someone like me who doesn’t build sets on a regular basis, it only took me about an hour to assemble.
While the majority of the set is straight forward, when you get to the haunter tree, it’s just amazing. It took the most time to assemble, and throughout assembling it you have no clue what you’re building towards, but when you’re done it has movable limbs, raising eyes and more. It’s an impressive centerpiece to the set.
Once you’re done assembling the set, then a whole different side of the set arises. By using the Hidden Side phone app, you will be able to battle the evil ghosts possessing the set.
The app accesses your camera, you align with the set, and then the interactive portion begins. Reading the colored blocks on the set, different ghosts appear that you must battle to cleanse the set. As you defeat the ghosts, you earn currency that will allow you to upgrade your ghost battling gear to take down the ghosts of other sets.
While this sounds like it could get expensive rapidly, LEGO has really thought this through. First off, the app can be played with no sets at all as it has some built-in games. Secondly, lets say you have the Graveyard, but your friend has the School Bus. The sets are not locked to any account, so you can scan your friends set and play thought it as well to earn the rewards.
There is a lot going on with Hidden Side, and we loved it all. You get a fantastic set to add to your LEGO collection. Nifty new minifigures (GHOST DOG!), and you get free games to play. And if there’s an aspect you don’t like? Skip it. There’s still a lot to do.
We can’t wait to try out some more Hidden Side sets.
Disclaimer: LEGO provided us with the Graveyard Mystery set for the purposes of this hands-on.
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