Lego’s going augmented reality with the launch of several ghostly Hidden Side sets

So that’s why Lego came out with that Stranger Things-themed set that kept the whole Stuff team busy for two full days. There’s a new range coming from the Danish makers of addictive bricks, called Hidden Side, which has a ghostly focus. And also involves other things that aren’t actually there, commonly known at Stuff Towers as augmented reality (AR).

Hidden Side is a series of augmented reality-augmented sets, first revealed to visitors of the International Toy Fair in New York in February this year. It’s been in the works for some time now and involves kids (and adults) interacting with their plastic bricks in a whole new way. Combining the completed set with the AR app (which will be available for free download from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store at launch) lets players attempt to capture virtual ghosts. Which is better than selling people actual ghosts, we suppose.

Ghostly games

We haven’t actually seen what the sets consist of but Lego reckons they are “…a series of eight “haunted” building sets full of awesome functionality and secret surprises that, on their own, provide the build and roleplay fun of any LEGO play theme.” Given how much money they’ve already cost us, we’ve got no doubt that Hidden Sides will further the company’s aim of emptying every wallet it comes across.

What we do know is that the sets, based in the town of Newbury, have a standard build element. Those builds are basically the town in daylight, while viewing the completed sets through the lens of the AR app lets folks interact with the haunted, nighttime side of town. There’s an actual game involved, with players taking the role of two main characters — Jack and Parker — who roam around solving mysteries. Of the creepy sort, naturally.

Lego’s AR-enhanced sets will be available in South Africa from 1 August, which is in line with the rest of the world. Lego’s official stores in Sandton City and Menlyn Park will both carry the mysterious and spooky additions. Pricing isn’t known but we’re sure that’ll turn up, right about the time we find out what the sets look like. Roll on August, we suppose. Hopefully our bank accounts have recovered by then. But if Hidden Side takes off, there’s likely to be an AR-boosted Ghostbusters set and then no bank accounts are safe…