I have a soft spot in my heart for certain, very specific LEGO themes. Anything with ghosts or classic monsters does it for me. Which is why I’ve been heartbroken since the Monster Fighters and Scooby-Doo themes disappeared from shelves.

But the new Hidden Side theme scratches that same itch to a certain extent. The story behind this theme is as follows:

“Being the new kid in town is never easy, and 13-year-old Jack Davids is trying hard to adapt to his new, seemingly sleepy hometown of Newbury. Before long, Newbury’s Hidden Side – a bone-chilling, long-forgotten realm filled with ghosts – threatens to take over the town. With his new best friend Parker and the brilliant scientist J.B., he’ll use a new interactive app to embark on the ghost-catching ride of his life!”

Yeah, I’ll get to that “interactive app” part in a moment. First, let’s take a look at the sets. The theme currently consists of eight different “haunted” sets that all feature ghosts, spooks, skeletons, and creeps.

The highlight of the theme is obviously Newbury Haunted High School (with seven minifigures!), but the Ghost Train Express, Paranormal Intercept Bus 3000, and Graveyard Mystery are also solid sets. (Truly, all eights sets are pretty sweet.)

We had a chance to go hands on with the Paranormal Intercept Bus, so let’s take a closer look at that one.

This particular set includes 689 pieces, five minifigures, Spencer the ghost dog (heck yeah), a tricked-out school-bus-turned-Ecto-1-wannabe, and… a haunted port-a-potty? What’s not to love about that?

As a physical toy, it’s what you’ve come to expect from LEGO: solidly designed, a sturdy construction (the final build won’t fall apart and stands up to fairly rough play), awesome interactive components, fun details, and minifigures bursting with character. The fact that it’s themed around ghosts just makes it that much sweeter.

I’m definitely a fan – and so are the kids (i.e., the target demographic).

But that’s not where Hidden Side ends. The “gimmick” behind this new product line is that the sets are actually the building blocks (pun intended) of an entire augmented reality (AR) experience.

And from there, we enter uncharted territory for LEGO. Because the unique playability and core idea behind Hidden Side rest in a digital mobile app – not plastic bricks.

Start by downloading the LEGO Hidden Side app to your phone or mobile device, but be warned, it’s not a dainty app. The iPhone version is a whopping 1.3 GB, so keep that in mind if you’re running low on space (or if the kids have a device with limited storage).

Launch the app, and you’re immediately thrust into the experience. The town of Newbury is 100% haunted, and you need to start capturing ghosts. You’re prompted to log in any Hidden Side physical sets you might have, but they’re not a requirement for play.

The “augmented reality” feature of the app is a neat gimmick, but it’s pretty much that. You “scan” in the final build, and it becomes the setting for a Ghostbusters/Luigi’s Mansion mashup with LEGO minifigures. Repeatedly tap the screen to attack the ghosts, capture them, add their powers to your inventory, rinse, repeat.

As I said, you don’t NEED a physical set to play. There’s a “story mode” option where you can level up characters and play through levels without scanning in any actual LEGO playsets.

And then it’s pretty much just a mobile app, like so many LEGO games already out there.

This isn’t meant to be a thorough review of the Hidden Side app since we haven’t played it enough to give it one. But the fact that we haven’t played it much DOES speak to how well it integrates with the physical LEGO sets. It’s a cool gimmick, but the novelty wears off fairly quickly.

For kids (and adults) who love the “simple” joy of LEGO bricks, an AR-enhanced mobile app is completely unnecessary. Even in 2019, when so many kids are jaded with technology and carry devices in their pockets or backpacks, those who are drawn to LEGO aren’t enticed by the prospect of “bringing the sets to life.”

Don’t get me wrong. The Hidden Side sets are awesome and scratch that very specific itch for ghost-centric playsets. But LEGO has been fueled by imagination for 70 years, and I see no reason to change that now.