Aerthlings revives toys-to-life with NFC figures and a lineage-based trading system

Toys-to-life has had a complicated history. Skylanders made it feel magical, Amiibo made it feel collectible, and then the whole thing collapsed under the weight of plastic figures nobody had shelf space for. Aerthlings is taking another run at it, launching in the US on iOS and Android with a twist on the formula that's at least trying to do something different. The setup is straightforward enough. You buy physical cube-shaped NFC mystery boxes called FIGs, scan them into the game, and a character hatches into your roster. From there, it's a mobile RPG – levelling up, battling, rebuilding a shattered planet called Aerth while fending off the Moonlings who broke it in the first place. The RPG itself is free. The FIGs are sold separately, which is where the business model lives. ... [MORE]