Tested Lego Boost Creative Toolbox

Turn little plastic bricks into a mini-terminator

We’ve been joking for a long time about the impending robot uprising – but it seems we may have been looking for warning signs in the wrong places.

After all those years thinking it would be one of Apple, Google or Facebook gunning for the role of Skynet, we forgot to keep an eye on Lego. No longer content with having us construct inanimate models, Lego has released the Boost Creative Toolbox – a kit that lets you build an interactive robot almost entirely from those famous plastic bricks.

What’s more, rather than just pressing buttons on a remote to get your robot moving and firing projectiles, you can use simple coding to order it about. And if you get bored of the robot, you can rebuild it into one of four other models.

It really is a genius piece of kit, and could well be the No1 gift for your kid this Christmas… or you could keep it for yourself. After all, you’d be a bad parent if you put your children in the firing line of the robot revolution.

1 ’Bot mess With 847 Lego pieces in the box, things can get a bit messy and chaotic once you rip open those little plastic bags. Since this is a set designed to be repeatedly reassembled, we wish they’d included some sort of tray for systematic storage.

2 Fuss ’bot The necessary app can only be downloaded via a tablet with at least IOS 10.3 or Android 5.0. While a smartphone version would have been mighty fiddly, we’d have liked the option. The kit also requires six AAA batteries, which aren’t included.

3 ’Bot it made Once you’ve finished building most Lego models, the fun is essentially over. Not so with Vernie the Robot. You can code him to move, fire projectiles, set vocal greetings or even play games. And he has accessories that you can build for extra fun.

4 Ready or ’bot Since Lego Boost is designed for children between the ages of 7 and 12, the app’s tutorials do a great job of easing you into the world of coding. It’s not really going to teach your kids how to code, but you could argue it’s a decent introduction.

5 Join the ’bots Since you can rebuild Vernie into four other models (see panel, right), he’s a total bargain at £150. Every one is brilliantly entertaining in its own way, and they’re all easy enough to build as long as you take your time and follow the instructions.

This Lego set is far from perfect, but as soon as you start creating tunes on the guitar or playing games with Vernie you’ll quickly forget its flaws. It isn’t just ridiculously fun during assembly, but also when you explore its many, many programmable talents. The killer feature, though, is that you get five models for the price of one. @Ryanaj13

STUFF SAYS All hail Vernie and friends – for value and sheer fun, it’s hard to beat this pro rammable Le o kit