Trendspotting: the indie games that combine digital with physical

The latest trends, from Fabulous Beasts, the toys-to-life game of building blocks of animals, to Mecha Monsters, real-world battling robots that work with a digital game

There has been an explosion in the number of video games that are altered and unlocked by toys. This "toys-to-life" concept is simple: place small figurines on a platform connected to a games console, and those characters magically appear in-game.