When kids play, they commonly dig through their toy box in search of their favorite characters who become part of an imaginary play world with a story line that is made up as they go along. This is the idea behind Disney Infinity, an open ended world of possibilities where players possess the infinite possibility to mix and make their own adventures, build their own worlds, and create their own games with their own rules through a game that will work for all gaming platforms. According to John Day, Producer at Disney Interactive, Disney Infinity is “what it’s like to play with toys on the living room floor as you dump out a box of toy and you invent your own stories, games, and rules. It doesn’t matter what brand, all toys play together.”
Players start by purchasing the Starter Pack for their gaming system that contains the video game, Infinity base for character figurines to sit on, 3 Play Sets (Monsters University, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Incredibles), 3 Infinity characters (Mr. Incredible, Jack Sparrow, and Sulley), an Infinity Power Disc, and web codes to unlock unique content.
The 3 Play Sets that come in the Starter Pack serve as the worlds that characters can play in and gadgets. Items from the Play Set are added to the Toy Box where characters, buildings, weapons, gadgets, and more that can be mixed up to create a game. The Toy Box is an open-ended environment where play is only limited by imagination and creativity. According to Disney Interactive, it will be a place to “battle enemies, solve puzzles, overcome obstacles and complete a variety of other unique quests.” Here’s a look at the Pirates of the Caribbean Play Set and how the characters, gadgets, and environments come together in game play.
In addition to the items in the Starter Pack, additional character figurines can be purchased to add more characters to Disney Infinity play. Characters are available in sets such as Villians, Sidekicks, and Cars for $29.99-$34.99 per set or individuals for $12.99 each. Individual characters include Mater, Dash, Violet, Davy Jones, Francesco, Captain Barbosa, Mike Wazowski, Randall, and Mrs. Incredible will be sold separately.
Power Discs are another element that are part of Disney Infinity play. Discs are physical toys that come in two shapes- hexagon and circle. Circles are put under character figurines and provide various characteristics during game play such as health and power. Two can be combined and stacked under each figurine. Sometimes when two are stacked, a third one will come up as a hidden characteristic, providing the character with an additional power.
The hexagonal power discs allow players to customize how their world looks. Some unlock new toys such as items that can be found in Disney Parks but become part of the virtual game world. Examples of such items include Cinderella’s carriage, Dumbo, the cannon from the Toy Story Midway ride at Hollywood Studios, Cinderella’s castle, Spaceship Earth, and the Matterhorn. Power discs are available in blind packs with 2 two a pack, allowing players to collect and trade them, providing an in real life social aspect to game play.
With a launch date of August 18, Disney Infinity will not only provide endless imagination when playing but also promises to provide young game enthusiasts with the opportunity to exercise creativity as they build fully functional games through the platform that can be saved, uploaded to Disney, and reviewed for possible inclusion on the Infinity platform for others to play. The powerful editor will allow kids to build games, configure behaviors of objects such as the score board when a soccer goal is scored, and control time in their platform games.
Summary
Disney Infinity is a place where Disney characters from the past, present, and future come together and go into their own worlds to play games within games. It’s an exciting platform that encourages open-ended play in players young and old as they interact with favorite Disney and Pixar characters and engage in game play in their worlds but also incorporates elements from Disney Parks.
I have to commend Disney for also encouraging video game creation through the platform. I can see players of all ages and both genders being motivated build their own games and submit them for review with the reward of them being shared with a wider audience.
My only concern about the game is the cost. Starter packs for Xbox 360, Wii, Playstation, and WiiU will sell for $74.99 on Amazon. Add in additional characters (individuals are $12.99, sets range from $29.99-$34.99) and sets of discs ($5 for blind packs of 2). As Disney creates new characters through movies, new content will be added with players clamoring for more discs and character figurines for game play providing play only limited by the depths of your pockets or generosity of others who can gift additional play pieces as birthday and holiday gifts for years to come.
For more information on Disney Infinity:
- Visit the official Disney Infinity site
- Like the Disney Infinity Facebook page
- Follow Disney Infinity on Twitter
Disclosure: Disney Infinity was shared with me as a guest of this year’s Social Media Moms Celebration Conference. As an attendee, I paid a conference fee and additional travel expenses but received perks at a substantially-reduced rate. I was not asked or required to publish content related to the conference or Disney. All opinions are my own. Photos courtesy of Disney.
