Nex Playground: A Mum’s Honest Review As Console Launches In UK

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I’m probably not your typical games console reviewer being a mum of two under-fives who barely has time to go to the loo (and if I do, it’s usually in the company of a smol person).

That said, I grew up learning the ropes on a Nintendo 64 (Golden Eye 4eva), and later, an Xbox.

My partner’s now got a Playstation 5, but our kids – who are two and four – are a bit young to fully grasp how the controls work (there’s a lot of aggressive button-bashing without the desired outcome), so it’s not really something we can play on together.

That’s why I was especially excited to learn of Nex Playground’s launch in the UK and Ireland. I’d heard about the motion-based games console a while back, when it was only available in North America.

After reading a whole host of positive reviews on Reddit, I was curious about how it would fare for families with younger kids. Little did I know its next stop on the road to world domination would be good old Blighty (it’s currently available to pre-order ahead of an estimated late-June release).

For those who’ve not yet heard of the Nex Playground, it’s a small (3-inch) cube-shaped games console with a built-in camera. There are no controllers because you, as the user, are the controller.

The camera picks up your movement and up to four of you can become part of the game. There’s no sitting still – it’s all dancing, jumping, hitting and swinging. And it’s ideal for all ages.

Inspired by his own family’s needs (his daughters were two and seven when he first started building it), Nex’s CEO David Lee wanted to create a product that kids, parents and even grandparents can use – and he’s certainly delivered.

Rather than smartphones which suck up our attention and seem to ironically isolate us from one another, this is a device that has the power to bring families together. I know, because I watched it happen.

The games console costs £269 and comes with five games. You can also pay for an annual Play Pass subscription (£90 per year) which gives you access to 60+ games.

There’s a real mixture to choose from, helping cement the console as a family staple – I love Starri (which takes me back to the days of stomping on dance mats, but with Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso blasting out instead), my partner loves Basketball Knockout, my toddler loves the Bluey mini games and my four-year-old is utterly obsessed with Mirrorama.

My parents even came to visit and I’ve never heard my mum and daughter giggle as much as they did while running around with emoji faces hovering over them on the screen – it’s one of the features in Mirrorama, which is pure silliness and kids are guaranteed to love it. Mine loves to try and steal the smiley face from whoever has it (hence all the giggling)!

I have the attention span of a goldfish and I’m constantly being pulled in many directions, so setting things up isn’t usually my strong point. However, this was super simple and I did it in minutes.

The Nex Playground comes in a small(ish) box with a petite remote, power cable, HDMI cable and small instruction booklet.

All you need to do is plug it in to the mains, hook it up to the TV (via the HDMI) and then turn your telly on and commence set up, which involves typing in your WiFi and adding the code for your play pass, if you’ve bought one.

I asked Lee about privacy and security, because it’s always at the front of mind with two young kids – and, ya know, there’s a camera now in our living room.

He explained motion-tracking data and processing stay local to the device (“nothing’s sent to the cloud”), and every system includes a built-in camera cover, which is magnetic so it snaps onto the front of the console easily.

There’s no third-party software involved. Nex is directly accountable for the trust, safety, and certification of the entire experience. They also have kidSAFE+ certification.

It’s a really clever piece of kit. I absolutely love that it gets both kids moving and it’s also really helping my four-year-old come to terms with the idea of winning and losing (which can be hard to swallow at that age, but she’s getting there!).

Many of the games are easy to understand and play – even for a two-year-old. And I don’t think the kids have ever slept as well as they did that first day we played on it. They were absolutely exhausted from all the jumping, dancing and pretending to be animals (thanks to reenacting Bluey’s Magic Asparagus).

There have been a couple of times where it’s glitched (ie. getting confused with tracking who’s who), or has been a bit slow to load, and some of the games like the driving ones can be a bit tricky for younger kids to navigate using their bodies (my four-year-old seems to just spin in circles whenever she’s trying to ‘drive’ something), but on the whole, it’s been brilliant.

The wide range of games on offer is a huge draw (the Play Pass is well worth it) and the company adds about 15-20 new ones per year, so I’m excited to see what arrives next.

Realistically, I – like many parents – sometimes have to rely on screen time to be able to get things done: work, dinner, etc., and there is so much less guilt knowing the kids are playing together, learning new skills (like working as a team or problem-solving) and keeping active instead of sitting on the sofa passively watching a show.

And when they’re tucked up in bed, my partner and I will grab a glass of wine and play a quick game of baseball, or bowling, from the comfort of our living room. There are also fitness games on there, so if you struggle to find time to exercise, you can easily grab 20 minutes here and there.

With British weather being as changeable as it is, I can see this is going to be an absolute godsend for parents over the summer holidays on those inevitable rainy days when you need to entertain the kids and work.

If you’re in need of a console that suits a range of ages, but 3- to 12-year-olds in particular, I couldn’t recommend enough.

Families in the UK and Ireland can pre-order the Nex Playground at Amazon, Smyths Toys, and Argos.