With games like Minecraft and World OlliOlli, released in February 2022, Taking inspiration from things like building blocks and skateboards, it’s clear that toys have moved from toy boxes and playrooms to the video game industry. There’s always something whimsical about seeing games with plastic, plush, or wooden art styles mixing a nostalgia factor of playing with toys as a kid and enjoying more intricate fun. as an adult.
Whether games allow players to assume the roles of favorite toys and stuffed animals, or simply rely on familiar imagery and game types to establish their identity, toys have evolved far beyond simple toys that most children have grown up with over the decades.
11 Lego games
If there is a series that knows how to play with toys, it is the LEGO games. Whether it be Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Where The Avengersthe series merges the familiarity of many famous franchises with all the colorful fun of playing with a new box of LEGO.
The games are all about being silly and creative with the same amount of imagination and creativity that made the various movies and adventures they explore so incredible. Fantasy and superhero epics are all beautiful and dandy, but there’s just something impeccably enjoyable about seeing the same scenes from the movies recreated with Minifigs.
ten The brave squire
Although the game is technically not released yet, The brave squire already has the makings of a stylistic platforming adventure that seems to borrow many different gameplay mechanics and visuals from other iconic toys and video games. Obviously inspired by The Legend of Zelda at its core, the game clearly draws inspiration from childhood toys as Jot the Squire escapes from his storybook and enters a child’s room.
From the trailer alone, visions of video games, Rubix Cubes, coloring books, and other toy box accessories abound. Players may still have to wait until August to play, but it sure looks like a fun time with more than a few quirks to spare.
9 naughty bear
Classic Game Room on YouTube described this game as “The Care Bears meet The Shining,” and it’s certainly a good take on a game like Naughty bear. games like Hotline Miami and Grand Theft Auto thrive on gratuitous violence, but this game replaces guts and blood with fabric and buttons as the player assumes the role of a very disgruntled teddy bear.
Naughty Bear itself is what would happen if someone put Ash Williams, Jason Voorhees, and Winnie the Pooh in a blender and turned it on. The game allows players to unleash their frustrations on a population of colored bears by strangling and mauling them in the most creative ways possible, making for both an absurd and disturbing experience.
8 Puppeteer
Puppeteer is an interesting alternative platformer, to say the least. It’s a platform game brought to life via a puppet theater where players must control a puppet boy who can wield magic scissors to affect the environment around him.
When Kutaro literally loses his head at the feet of the fearsome Moon Bear King, he and his friends must save the souls of captured children and take on the king’s army of henchmen lying behind the scenes at the puppet stage. It’s a very over-the-top experience that plays most of its elements for laughs, but it’s really as entertaining as a night at the theater.
seven disney infinity
Toy-to-life video games were kind of a fad in the 2010s, but disney infinity had a very distinct and enjoyable toy-themed experience with a cast of beloved Disney characters and environments. As a kid, it was always fun to have different action figures and stuffed animals of famous people play. disney infinity make that happen.
The likes of Mickey and Minnie could battle the Green Goblin with the Guardians of the Galaxy, then go go-karting with Chewbacca and Darth Vader. This is the kind of imaginative gameplay offered by the title. With so many movies, characters, and features to play with, it’s so tragic that the studio has ceased production.
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5 Yoshi’s woolly world
The Yoshi’s Island games have always had an unwaveringly playful nature since they were first created on the SNES, but the way Yoshi’s woolly world uses soft and fluffy characters made of yarn, fabric, buttons and other plush materials are absolutely adorable.
While it retains many familiar mechanics and controls from the original SNES games, this cute and cuddly world of plush and felt feels like it was knit with love for Yoshi. Players beware, just because he has a soft exterior doesn’t mean he lacks challenge. Even with Yoshi’s friendly nature, the game will test hardcore platformers.
4 Kirby’s Epic Yarn
Yoshi wasn’t the first to get the craft-inspired treatment, as Kirby’s Epic Yarn sent Nintendo’s favorite chubby pink puffball on an adventure through a nifty realm. Imagine what would happen if Kirby was taken away from the magical kingdom of Dreamland and had to escape the local Hobby Lobby, and that’s that title in a nutshell.
Although he may lack his signature copy ability, Kirby can transform into various vehicles and objects to traverse this new world. Similar to the previously mentioned title, Kirby works its magic on a plush-inspired world with tons of platforming goodness worthy of the character’s standard repertoire.
3 Boxless Hypercharge
If a player has ever played with an action figure at least once in their life, they will know how to play Hypercharged unboxed. Essentially an FPS mixed with toy story Where little soldiers, the game puts the player in control of their own miniature in different game modes, from tower defense to zombie mode.
Charming doesn’t even begin to describe this delightfully whimsical action game, as it was clearly designed and programmed by a team of loving hands. Players will battle green army men, rattling toy robots, and dinosaurs with toy guns and ammo. It’s sure to trigger a truckload of nostalgia for gamers who had GI Joe and star wars characters competing in the backyard.
2 little big planet
If there’s a name synonymous with cute, cuddly, toy-inspired gameplay, it’s the little big planet Games. Sackboy and all his adventures through the various imaginative planets made up of cardboard, craft supplies, toys and other odds and ends. Couple all of that with Stephen Fry’s narration and it’s a game that absolutely oozes fantasy.
It’s a side-scrolling platformer where players interact with various bits and bobs in a charming world full of varied environments and a colorful and quirky cast of characters. From castles to space stations, the kingdoms of LittleBigPlanet are only limited to the imagination.
1 The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
This remake of the Gameboy classic leaned heavily on a cute, almost doll-like atmosphere, transforming Koholint Island from an 8-bit world into a beautiful fantasy that could be a Zelda-themed play set. Link looks absolutely adorable as a little toy version of himself. That being said, it still follows the same weird story from 1993.
Don’t be fooled by the Toy Town of Koholint and the comic egg on top of the mountain. The tale of the Wind Fish and its mysterious, dark end is still present, just wrapped up in a nice wrapper.
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