DISCLOSURE:  I received a free KRE-O Cityville Invasion Building Set from BzzAgent to try and review.

My kids love building toys.  We have a ton of wooden and LEGO blocks all around the house.  But, we had never used the KRE-O building sets before.  So, I jumped at the chance to give them a try!  My kids had never heard of KRE-O, but they were pretty excited to be getting a set.

I received a pretty nice BzzKit from BzzAgent.  It included:

• A KRE-O Cityville Invasion Marina Madness Building Set
• Five Cityville Invasion samples
• Coupons to pass along towards the purchase of a KRE-O Cityville Invasion building set

When we got the package in the mail, my six-year-old son was super excited and wanted to start building it right away.  Unfortunately, we had my daughter's birthday party to get ready for and so, I let him take a picture with the box and promised him we'd build it together soon.


KRE-O is a line of construction toys from the gaming company, Hasbro.  The Cityville Invasion line is based on the Cityville online game series.  The evil Dr. Mayhem plans to invade Cityville and it's up to the Special Ops Squad to stop the invasion.  Each KRE-O set tells a different part of the story.  The sets use Sonic Motion technology to trigger specific movements in the KRE-O motion bricks, making these blocks even more interactive than other building sets.  There are seven sets that can be combined to bring the whole city to life.

We received the Marina Madness set.

In the Marina Madness set, a shark is loose in the marina.  The Special Ops Squad needs to capture it before it captures them!  The set includes 206 pieces.  The recommended age group is for kids ages 6 - 12.

The box acts as a storage case, so be careful when opening it.


Here is everything that comes in the box:


The instructions tell you to open all the bags and dump all the pieces into the empty box before you begin to build.  I didn't like that.  I wish each bag corresponded to the pieces for each item to be built.  The pieces are so small, it's sometimes hard to find the piece you need.

My son tried to help me, but I just don't think a six year old could handle building it all by themselves.  Here he is, trying to help.


But, in the end, I built it all myself.  It took several days to get it all done.  And it was a little frustrating when I inevitably dropped some pieces and had to get on my hands and knees to try and find them.  They're so small!  I kind of didn't want my kids to take it apart -- EVER -- after I was done because of how long it took for me to build it!

Here's the finished product:


I didn't attach the KRE-O motion blocks to the shark or characters in the picture.  But when you attach them and turn on the Sonic Motion, the pieces move.  Like this:



Would you recommend it?
Yes!  Especially for older kids who have the patience and the dexterity to build the sets.  My six year old couldn't sit down and tackle it, but I'm sure my 9 year old daughter would have been able to build it -- if she was interested in it.  She didn't really care to play with it, until I was done building it and showed her how the pieces can move.

How much does it cost?

• The Skyscraper Mayhem Building Set retails for $39.99.  It's recommended for kids age 7 and up and involves a rampaging gorilla that has escaped the Cityville zoo!
• The Police Station/Zombie Defense Building Set retails for $24.99.  It's recommended for kids age 7 and up and involves a zombie attack on the police station!
• The Haunted Hideaway Building Set retails for $24.99,  It's recommended for kids age 7 and up and has ghosts and vampires!
• The Marina Madness Building Set retails for $19.99.  It's recommended for kids age 6 and up and there's a loose shark in the marina!
• The Fire Station Dragon Attack Building Set retails for $16.99.  It's recommended for kids age 6 and up and there's a dragon burning up the firehouse!
• The Bank Bandit Bust Building Set retails for $9.99.  It's recommended for kids age 6 and up and involves a KREON bank bandit!
• The Service Station Scare Building Set retails for $9.99.  It's recommended for kids age 6 and up and also has a zombie on the loose!

Where can I buy it?
It's available at all major toy retailers and online retailers.