You have to give it to Activision. When it started selling video game enabled plastic action figures in 2011 it invented a new paradigm of play, the biggest revolution in gaming since Nintendo got kids off the couch and moving their bodies with the Wii. It is no wonder the program soared in the marketplace. First, there was the "magic" of putting a plastic figure on the "portal of power" and see it appear in the video game. But, there was more: kids found they could play with the action figures even without a video game, so the toys retained traditional play mode while gaining something new ways to think of video games. Their decision as to what charter to use in the games became strategic, making the experience magical and more thoughtful at the same time.
Disney's competing product, Infinity was late to the game, but considerably more ambitious. Each of Disney's properties gets its own video game treatment, with a game mechanic tied to the intellectual property of the film. Cars, for instance, was all about racing; but the Marvel Superheros (featured in 2014's Infinity 2.0) is all about combat. That means every playset has its own game mechanic. In practice, some have been much better than others.
For me, the real genius of Infinity wasn't the individual play worlds (each of which is limited to characters from that property) but the concept of the central toy chest, an open-ended virtual space where kids can play with all their virtual toys in virtual worlds they create. Each week Disney features user-created Toy Box creations from the hundreds of thousands that have been uploaded. They claim that over 13 million toy box creations have been downloaded.
However, the mechanics of building three-dimensional worlds isn't easy; it takes time and patience. Disney's solution with Infinity 2.0 is to offer automated helpers that will do some of the creation for you. This makes it easier to have a starting point for further play and creation, but it runs the risk of taking the brain power out of the process. At the same time, the tools and toys available have been upgraded, so if your children have designs on becoming game designer when they grow up, Disney Infinity is a good place to start.
I wish that the tutorials within Infinity 2.0 were more clearly identified and called out. It is harder than it ought to be to learn how to build without resorting to outside help. Since I think that most of the value of the platform exists in the creation mode, it is important that you help your kids to get started. Otherwise, Infinity 2.0 (particularly the Marvel playsets) becomes just another combat game for kids.
