Sick Bricks
View the case- Brand
- Spinmaster
- Year
- 2015
- Objective
- Product Launch
- Industry
- Other
- Mechanic
- Arcade & Action
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- Eye Cue
Objective
Spin Master wanted into the toys-to-life category then split between Skylanders and Disney Infinity, but without the cost of a proprietary reader — using a phone camera instead of a portal. The real goal was to sell physical Sick Bricks figures: the app is free, so every new head, body, or figure a kid buys becomes a reason to open it again.
Solution
Playing as Jack Justice, you run through Sick City's districts — Monster, Ninja, Space and more — beating down ninjas, monsters and zombies, smashing enemy lairs for bricks, and using them to rebuild wrecked buildings. To unlock a new hero, you hold a physical Sick Bricks figure up to your phone's camera; it's recognized instantly and drops into the game as a playable character. Pop a figure's head onto a different body before scanning and you beam in a hybrid with its own mixed set of powers. No new figure on hand? You keep playing with the heroes you've already unlocked, using in-game currency instead.
- 1
The player downloads Sick Bricks for free on iOS or Android and starts as Jack Justice, a voiced hero tasked with taking Sick City back from the villain Overlord Omega and his goons.
- 2
Combat is entirely touch-based hack-and-slash: the player taps to strike or shoot enemies and smash objects, triggers a one-hit special move that recharges over time, and dashes to dodge attacks and traps. Playable characters differ by attack range and type, from Katie Kantmiss's long-range bow to Alex Awesome's short-range laser to others who fight up close.
- 3
From the city hub, the player heads out on missions to track down and clear enemy hideouts scattered across themed districts — Monster, Ninja, Space, and others populated by ninjas, monsters, aliens, and zombies. Hideout layouts are randomized each visit, so the same location plays out differently on repeat runs, and the player can clear over 100 hideouts for loot.
- 4
Smashing enemies and objects earns bricks, which the player spends to repair buildings across Sick City as they progress, while hundreds of items and accessories let them upgrade characters and weapons with new abilities for boss fights.
- 5
The core hook: holding a real, purchased Sick Bricks figure up to the phone or tablet camera scans and "beams" it into the game as a playable character with its own abilities, using visual recognition rather than NFC or RFID chips. The same scanning method also imports items and vehicles from other sets.
- 6
Players can physically swap a head from one figure onto another body — pieces are compatible with each other as well as LEGO, Mega Bloks, and KRE-O — then beam the combined figure in to unlock a unique in-game character with mixed powers, with thousands of possible combinations from over 70 figures.
- 7
A defeated character normally sits out a recovery timer, but the owner of that character's physical figure can rescan it immediately to return the hero to battle without waiting.
- 8
Players without the toys can instead buy the same characters using in-game premium currency priced to match each figure's retail cost, with additional currency and chests offered for purchase.
- 9
The city map also holds minigames, including an endless runner and races, with racing minigames unlocked by vehicles from the Big Sick Pack sets.
- 10
The campaign is organized into twelve worlds of four levels each, with a single level taking roughly two hours to complete.
