This Design Studio Combined Mario Kart Live with Lego Mario

Nintendo is no stranger to innovation, especially with their biggest IP: Mario. But one clever design studio may have beaten them at their own game. They combined the Mario Kart AR game and the Mario Lego Build set together to create two games in one.

The clever creation is the product of PlayFool, a Japanese design studio. In the past, they broke down the full potential of both the AR game and the Lego set, deciding that the only thing left to do was combine them. They even produced a video detailing the process and showing off the end result



So what's going on? Lets break it down.

First is the AR game. Nintendo released Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit in late 2020. The game features a real life RC car of Mario, with a camera in the back. The game displays the camera feed, along with some augmented on screen footage, creating a mixed reality experience of Mario Kart. Players could use designated sign posts to design tracks to race on all around their house or apartment.

Next is the Lego game. Lego partnered with Nintendo to create a large block style game based on Mario. It even featured a barcode scanning system that lets players simulate a game of mario. When the Mario block stepped on top of a coin barcode, a sound played and the game remembers the coin. Its silly and meant for children.

PlayFool combined them. They created a saddle of sorts that attaches to the RC car and securely holds the Mario Lego block. As the player drives along the course, they will encounter coins, blocks, Goombas, and so on, all with barcodes on them. When the player drives over these things, the Lego block sees the scanner and registers the interaction.

This is silly, somewhat unnecessary, but oh so clever. We love it! If you have both products and want to try for yourself, PlayFool has provided PDFs of the saddle, course elements, and even some tips. All of those are available here.