Nex Playground Review – Getting Yourself Active Without VR

Back in the day, the Nintendo Wii took the world by storm, which caused Xbox and PlayStation to up their game with motion controls. This led to the creation of the Xbox Kinect, a camera that used motion sensing to navigate and play specialized games. Now we have the Nex Playground, which is quite similar to the Kinect, but with much more advanced technology. It uses a camera to help you and your family play games inside the house, but it still gives you exercise.

Name: Nex Playground
Manufacturer: NEX
Price: $199.99
Release Date: December 2023

On the outside, the Nex Playground looks like a mini cube that’s even smaller than the Nintendo GameCube. It also has a small camera that you can see, which looks to be making up a fourth of the size of the machine. As I was unpacking the box, I was surprised by how simple everything looked inside the box.

Once the Nex Playground is plugged in and powered on, the first step is connecting it to the internet so you can start downloading games from the Nex servers. Thanks to NEX, I was provided with a Play Pass to test out the device and explore its current library. When you purchase the console, you get access to a starter lineup of games. Five games come pre-installed, and out of those, I spent time with Goal Keeper, Fruit Ninja, and Starri.

I’ll say this. Having these five games permanently available on the console isn’t a bad deal. But the real bread and butter of the Nex Playground lies in its Play Pass offerings. Instead of giving a full rundown of every game available on the Play Pass, I’ll focus on the ones I personally enjoyed.

Game Selection

The game I played every day after setting up the Nex Playground was BoxFlow Fitness. This game starts by calibrating the camera to track your hands. You curl your hands into fists and hold them up to your chin, which causes the game to highlight them in red and blue on screen. With music playing, you perform basic boxing punches, like straight jabs, hooks, and uppercuts in rhythm with the beat. The speed of the rhythm depends on the type of workout you select, ranging from casual to more intense sessions. Guards happen when you raise both arms to your face to block incoming red and blue balls on screen, and yellow bars require you to dodge by weaving side to side.

Another game that came with the starter pack, and one I played regularly, was Starri. Starri is similar to Beat Saber, where you move your arms in a slashing motion to hit notes as they appear on screen. If timed correctly, your movement triggers music notes that sync with the song you’ve chosen. There’s a solid mix of tracks available, giving you plenty of variety to keep things fresh.

A game that I think utilizes camera technology well is Pip’s Tale. The camera tracks your movements to control Pip, allowing you to walk left or right across the screen. If you jump, Pip jumps to the next section of ground above. Pip is a spider who can move side to side, shoot webs from their hands, or punch through blocks in their way. Based on your actions in front of the camera, Pip will respond accordingly. Reach your hand toward something, and Pip shoots a web in that direction. A quick, short movement of your hand to the side causes Pip to punch. This game ended up making me a lot more tired than I expected, especially with all the jumping it requires.

Games To Avoid With Nex

There’s a decent selection of games available through the Play Pass, though not all of them are hits. I wouldn’t say any are outright bad, but some suffer from messy mechanics or awkward design choices.

Galax was a game I was genuinely excited to try, especially with its cool spaceship aesthetic. It’s a two-player puzzle game where one player controls a spaceship and the other controls a laser, each working together to solve challenges. Early on, the puzzles are fun and engaging, but as the game progresses, the difficulty ramps up, not because of the puzzles themselves, but because the physics become so finicky that precise movement is frustrating rather than rewarding.

Another game I was looking forward to was Arrow Party. It asks you to choose your dominant hand for aiming the bow, which works well. However, the issue lies with the other hand, the one you’re supposed to use for pulling and releasing the arrow. Unfortunately, the camera struggles to track this motion accurately. Any small movement is misread as a firing gesture, causing the game to constantly shoot arrows whether you intend to or not. It quickly becomes unplayable.

Then there’s Dragon Jumpers, which might be fun for kids but definitely isn’t for those looking for a more exercise-oriented experience. The game plays like a “Dragon Flappy Bird”—you jump to make your dragon rise, and it gradually drops down unless you keep jumping. Essentially, it turns into “jumping: the video game,” where you’re bouncing in place endlessly to stay afloat. If you’re aiming for variety or workout value, this one’s a skip.

Nex’s Play Pass

Now let’s get to the biggest downside of the Nex Playground, the Nex Play Pass. While the game library is genuinely solid and makes great use of the camera-based tech, the problem lies in access. Without an active Play Pass subscription, you’re limited to just the starter pack of five games. If those don’t appeal to you, your only option is to subscribe to a three-month or one-year Play Pass. Unfortunately, there’s no option to purchase individual games outright or keep specific titles permanently, which feels like a missed opportunity.

For families who plan to use the Nex Playground as a short-term tool, say, to keep young kids active indoors for a year, this model might work just fine. It offers a fun and engaging way to stay moving without leaving the house. However, for those looking to use the Nex Playground as a fitness tool, the lack of VR is a legitimate plus. If you’re someone who gets motion sickness or headaches from VR, this is a nice alternative.

That said, for long-term users or fitness-focused adults, traditional VR might be a better investment. Even though the initial cost is higher, you can buy and keep the exact games you want. This is something the Nex Playground doesn’t currently allow.

Verdict

The Nex Playground is a sleek little cube of technology that delivers impressive facial and body recognition through its camera system. It offers a solid selection of games that take full advantage of its motion-tracking capabilities. If there were an option to customize or choose which games come bundled with the console, it would be an easy recommendation for fitness-focused users. As it stands, it’s best suited for families, especially those with younger kids, and works well as an annual investment when paired with the Play Pass.

You can order the Nex Playground on their website.

Review Disclosure Statement: The Nex Playground was provided to us by Nex for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more details.