CONNETIX, the Australian brand of premium magnetic tiles at the heart of open-ended STEAM construction play, is expanding its innovative PRO range with the introduction of the new CONNETIX PRO Build It 4 Ways packs. Following the successful debut of the CONNETIX PRO range for older builders last year, the four new advanced building experiences are set to launch globally this September.   Designed for older children and advanced builders, the new CONNETIX PRO Build It 4 Ways packs include Animals, Creatures, Vehicles and Flowers. Delivering a more challenging magnetic building experience, these small precision PRO tiles have ultra-strong magnets for sturdy, detailed builds. The packs come in travel-ready tins that double as a build base to support creativity wherever inspiration strikes.   Each PRO Build It 4 Ways pack includes four guided builds, providing an inspiring starting point before encouraging builders to modify, expand or reimagine their designs. Creations can be picked up, moved and manipulated, unlocking a new level of interactive play.   "Following the launch of CONNETIX PRO last year, we saw incredible enthusiasm from older builders who were looking for more advanced ways to create, design and experiment,” said Brea Brand, Co-Founder and CEO of CONNETIX. “The new PRO Build It 4 Ways packs expand on that excitement by offering even more opportunities to challenge their skills, explore new ideas and bring imagination to life. Featuring our innovative Smart Spin Technology, these packs introduce new possibilities for movement, engineering and open-ended design. Whether following the guided builds or creating something entirely original, they inspire confidence to construct freely and turn even the most ambitious ideas into reality.”   At the heart of the CONNETIX PRO range is Smart Spin™ technology, allowing the magnets inside each tile to rotate and self-align. This innovative design enables builders to connect pieces at different angles, refine their creations and experiment with more complex forms and structures. With every connection, builders experience the signature click as pieces lock into place, creating a delightfully tactile building experience.   Created specifically for advanced builders and kidults alike, PRO magnetic tiles allow for refined builds and greater control. Whether they follow the themed-design builds or explore creative freedom, each Build It 4 Ways pack encourages exploration with balance and design possibilities.   Discover the four new CONNETIX PRO Build It 4 Ways packs:   CONNETIX PRO 30 Piece Build It 4 Ways Animals Pack Featuring a sophisticated colour palette of navy, teal, white, orange, cream and magenta, this 30-piece pack inspires older and advanced builders to create detailed animal designs. Smaller tiles enable greater precision, while ultra-strong magnets keep creations secure for interactive play. Powered by CONNETIX Smart Spin™ technology, magnets rotate and self-align to unlock new building angles and design possibilities. Four guided builds—an elephant, peacock, squirrel and cat—provide inspiration before builders mix, modify and create animals that are uniquely their own.   CONNETIX PRO 36 Piece Build It 4 Ways Creatures Pack Designed for older builders who love challenge and precision, this 36-piece pack features a bold, high-contrast colour palette and inspires intricate creature designs. Small PRO tiles with ultra-strong magnets make it easy to create detailed legs, wings and angular features that stay securely connected for interactive play. Powered by CONNETIX Smart Spin™ technology, magnets rotate and self-align to unlock new building angles and more complex designs. Four guided builds—a scorpion, wasp, crab and dragonfly—provide inspiration before builders reimagine, extend and transform their creations into entirely new creatures.   CONNETIX PRO 30 Piece Build It 4 Ways Vehicles Pack Created for older and advanced builders, this 30-piece pack features a bold colour palette of yellow, blue, green, grey, black and white, along with small precision PRO tiles and ultra-strong magnets for sturdy, detailed vehicle builds. Powered by CONNETIX Smart Spin™ technology, magnets rotate and self-align to unlock new building angles and more complex designs. Four guided builds—a digger, helicopter, jet ski and plane—provide inspiration before builders modify and transform their creations into their own unique designs. Packed in a durable travel-ready tin that doubles as a build base, it's designed for creativity wherever inspiration strikes.   CONNETIX PRO 21 Piece Build it 4 Ways Flowers Pack Featuring fresh tones of watermelon, lilac, purple, yellow, mint and green, this 21-piece pack is designed for older builders and kidults who enjoy intricate, creative construction. Small precision PRO tiles with ultra-strong magnets deliver a satisfying building experience and secure creations that can be picked up and displayed. Powered by CONNETIX Smart Spin™ technology, magnets rotate and self-align to unlock new building angles and layered floral designs. Four guided builds—a tulip, rose, daisy and orchid—provide inspiration before builders experiment with their own unique botanical creations.   With the PRO Build It 4 Ways packs, CONNETIX continues to push the boundaries of magnetic construction, delivering innovative building experiences that inspire creativity, confidence and imagination. By combining guided builds with open-ended exploration, each pack empowers older builders to keep creating, experimenting and discovering.   Retailers interested in ordering the new ranges for 2026 can contact Tom Neville at tom.neville@connetixtiles.com.   For more information on CONNETIX PRO and other CONNETIX ranges, visit www.connetixtiles.com.   About CONNETIX: CONNETIX is an award-winning brand redefining creative construction play with premium magnetic tiles designed to inspire imagination, innovation, and lifelong learning. Building on its reputation for quality and open-ended play, the brand continues to expand its CONNETIX PRO range with thoughtfully engineered products that empower children to take their creativity even further. Compatible with the full CONNETIX ecosystem, the PRO range offers endless opportunities to mix, match, and create. Loved by families, educators, and allied health professionals around the world, CONNETIX continues to innovate with products that grow alongside children and inspire meaningful play at every stage. As the world's most-followed magnetic tile brand on social media, CONNETIX proudly celebrates its global community by showcasing the limitless ways families can create, learn, and play. For more information, please visit the CONNETIX website or follow us on Instagram.      

Yahtzee   Gameplay Yahtzee is a dice game that incorporates some poker-style combinations. To win, players must score the most points by rolling five dice and creating specific combinations, including Three of a Kind, Four of a Kind, Full House, Small Straight, Large Straight, and Yahtzee.   Players get up to three rolls per turn. To begin, roll all five dice. Then, decide which dice you want to keep (if any!) and which you want to re-roll. Roll the remaining dice and again, decide which dice you want to keep and which you want to re-roll. You can do this a third time if you choose, but after your third roll, you must choose a category and record your score.   The scoring is as follows: Aces: count and add only Aces Twos: count and add only Twos Threes: count and add only Threes Fours: count and add only Fours Fives: count and add only Fives Sixes: count and add only Sixes 3 of a Kind: add all five dice 4 of a Kind: add all five dice Full House (three of one number and two of another): 25 points Small Straight (four numbers in a sequence): 30 points Large Straight (five numbers in a sequence): 40 points Yahtzee (five of the same number): 50 points Chance: add all five dice   You can complete any category, but you must complete one at the end of every turn. You may only complete each category once. However, if you roll an additional Yahtzee after already completing the Yahtzee category, you can earn a 100-point bonus and score the roll in another category.   After 13 rounds, the player with the highest grand total wins!   History While the origins of Yahtzee and its inspirations date back to at least 1938 with the dice game Yacht, the present-day and commercial version of Yahtzee was patented by Edwin Lowe in 1956.   According to Hasbro, the game was first invented by an anonymous Canadian couple, who called it The Yacht Game because they played it on their yacht with their friends. They got in touch with Lowe and asked him to manufacture a few sets to give to their friends as gifts and acquired the rights to the game in exchange for 1,000 sets.   In 1973, Milton Bradley purchased the E.S. Lowe Company, the company Edwin was using to produce and sell Yahtzee. In 1984, Hasbro acquired Milton Bradley, and to this day, Hasbro is the sole publisher of the game.   Reception & Awards Since its debut in 1956, Yahtzee has become one of the world's most recognizable dice games, with more than 40 million copies sold during its first 17 years alone. In 2020, Yahtzee was one of the finalists for the National Toy Hall of Fame.

  Invitation for game authors: Registration until 15 December 2026   We warmly invite game designers and illustrators to present their prototypes to game editors from all over the world on 5 February 2027. The event will take place at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg, parallel to the Spielwarenmesse.   Invitation for your organization: Join the Convention and gain an international presence We would be delighted if your association will be participating as well again. It’s the best spot to gain international visibility, collaborating with other associations and join the growing international game designer community in Nuremberg in person. See the proposal in the attachment how to join acquire a table for free for the Game Inventors Convention.   You are very welcome to contact us with any suggestions or questions about the event.Contact for associations: Kyra Berger, k.berger@spielwarenmesse.com, phone +49 911 99813-35Contact for game inventors: Greta Neumann, g.neumann@spielwarenmesse.com, phone +49 911 99813-46   We would be delighted if you could forward the invitation below to the International Game Inventors Convention among your members.   If you recommend us, to send this invitation to one of your colleagues directly, kindly provide us with name and email. Thanks in advance. Have a great summer!   We are looking forward to hearing from you.Best regards – from Francesca, too –   Kyra Berger & Greta NeumannContent Manager Sales Manage Tel: +49 911 99813-35Email: k.berger@spielwarenmesse.comWeb: www.spielwarenmesse-group.comYou are welcome to forward this invitation mail to your game inventor contacts:_______________________________________________________   Dear Game Inventors,   We are delighted to invite you to the 5th International Game Inventors Convention which will take place live in Nuremberg as part of Spielwarenmesse 2027. The Game Inventors Convention offers game designers and authors a compact and professional meeting point to present your game ideas and prototypes to publishers and game agencies. At the same time, you will have the opportunity to network with game reviewers, trade media, content creators and other industry contacts. Please note that this is a networking and presentation event for showcasing new game ideas and prototypes, not a sales event. Watch the webcast with game author Stefan Freund and game editor Wolfgang Lüdtke, Kosmos, to find out if the event fits your needs. To the webcast. In 2027, our cooperation partner, the Bavarian Games Archive, will be on site to accompany you throughout the day and support you with advice and guidance. All information about participation can be found on our website. Registration is open!   If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time. We look forward to welcoming you and discovering many creative game ideas in Nuremberg!   Best regards Greta Neumann Tel: +49 911 99813-46Email: g.neumann@spielwarenmesse.comWeb: www.spielwarenmesse-group.com   JOIN OUR EVENTSUSE OUR CHANNELS    Spielwarenmesse eG, Herderstr. 7, 90427 Nürnberg, Germany

Peekimo   Calling all Tamagotchi parents! The days of small, wearable, digital pets are back. Meet Peekimo, an adorable interactive, digital pet that responds to both voice and touch with more than 100 different reactions. Whether your child is looking for a little companion to take on adventures or an interactive toy that doesn’t involve a screen, Peekimo is the perfect fit.   Peekimo are furry little creatures that live inside small, portable pods. The name comes from the adorable way the creature “peeks” out of its pod, and there are many ways to play. The pod features a touch bar, mood light, hearing sensor, and a button, making for many different types of play. Kids can tap the touch bar to feed Peekimo, swipe it to cuddle, press the button to pop Peekimo in and out of the pod, or even blow into the side of the pod to trigger a surprise reaction. If you press and hold the button, Peekimo will even speak in its own language: Peekimese.   As kids play with their Peekimo, it’ll start to let more of its personality shine through. Its mood light changes colors depending on how its feeling: light blue means it’s feeling relaxed, yellow means it’s happy, and pink means it wants to be cuddled—there are eight different moods, all laid out in a guide that’s included with the toy to help kids learn the different ways to interact with their pet.   In order to get the most out of their Peekimo, kids need to build a relationship with the digital pet through play. The more they interact with it, the more birthdays the Peekimo reaches. Each birthday unlocks new games, giving kids more reasons to keep coming back to their Peekimo. No instant gratification here! There are five games to unlock, including Peekapella, where kids can swipe the touch bar to change the style of music, Poke-a-Peekimo, which tests their timing and listening skills, and Peekimo Says, the Peekimo version of Simon Says.   There’s also Whirlywind, where kids must blow air into the pod to keep Peekimo inside until its mood light turns blue, and Peeki-Fortune, which lets kids ask Peekimo a question to see how it responds. There’s also an element of sharing, because if you have more than one Peekimo around, the characters will recognize each other and interact if they’re close enough together.   Peekimo is made for kids who love a tiny personal pet that’s not just adorable, but also interactive. It’s easy to take with you anywhere you go, thanks to its adjustable lanyard and carabiner ring. Perfect for wearing or attaching to a backpack or lunchbox! With its adorable reactions, interactive games, and emphasis on screen-free responsive play, Peekimo is the perfect little companion.

  There are many people behind the toys and games we love—inventors, designers, engineers, marketers, executives and countless others whose names may or may not ever appear on the box. And sometimes someone comes along who gives a toy something that can't be molded from plastic.   A voice. A personality. A heart.   Peter Cullen did that for Optimus Prime. Cullen, the legendary voice actor who brought Optimus Prime to life beginning with the original Transformers animated series in 1984, passed away Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 85. His extraordinary career spanned six decades, but for generations of children and adults around the world, that unmistakable voice will forever belong to the leader of the Autobots.   And the story of how Cullen found that voice may be even more memorable than the voice itself. Before heading to his audition in 1984, Cullen told his older brother Larry that he was auditioning to play a truck—a hero truck. Larry Cullen was a Marine veteran who had served in Vietnam, and Peter deeply admired him. Larry offered his younger brother some advice about what a hero should be.   As Hasbro recalled in its tribute to Cullen: “If you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero. Be strong enough to be gentle. Be compassionate, understanding, and be true.”   Peter listened. Years later, he recalled that when he entered the audition booth and read the character description, Larry's voice simply came out of him. Cullen wasn't trying to create the stereotypical booming Hollywood hero. He was channeling the strength, dignity and gentleness he saw in his brother. And Optimus Prime was born.   Think about what happened next. Children around the world weren't simply transforming a toy truck into a robot. Through television, movies and storytelling, they knew who that robot was. Optimus Prime was powerful, but compassionate. Strong, but gentle. A leader who didn't need to diminish others to demonstrate his own strength. A hero.   Cullen continued voicing Optimus Prime across decades of Transformers television, movies, games and other projects, including the live-action film franchise. The character became inseparable from the voice—and the voice became inseparable from the values Cullen and his brother had placed inside it. That's an extraordinary contribution to the power of play.   Toys invite children to tell stories. But the stories surrounding those toys can also influence who children imagine those characters to be—and perhaps, in some small way, who they imagine themselves becoming. Hasbro captured that beautifully in its remembrance of Cullen, writing that Optimus Prime “wasn't a character performance for Peter; it was simply a reflection of the man underneath.”    His family offered a similarly fitting request following his passing: honor Peter's legacy through service and by leading others with compassion, integrity and loyalty—and always remember to “be strong enough to be gentle.”    Peter Cullen didn't invent Optimus Prime. He didn't engineer the transformation or manufacture the toy. But he gave one of the world's most beloved toys something equally enduring: Its voice—and much of its heart.   Thank you, Peter Cullen.   Till all are one.