You can’t release a kids video-game these days without having a related line of small collectable plastic figurines. Also you need a clutch of big movie tie-ins. In this light Lego Dimensions is sitting pretty.

It’s the new “Toys to Life” game from the people behind the other Lego video-games. This means we know roughly how it will play, but not exactly how it will use the smart Lego minifigures to leverage content.

If you’ve not encountered these games before, like Skylanders and Disney Infinity (3.0 Star Wars version just announced) they not only use the toys to unlock content but also save progress wirelessly back to the figures via a USB peripheral plugged in to your video-game console.

Lego Dimensions is the first time Lego have entered this arms race, many have been surprised it’s taken so long. While some of the Lego franchises clash with Disney Infinity (being owned by the House of Mouse) published Warner Bros can call upon a super strong line-up of new and retro titles.

Through a blurry image on the retail packaging and a leaked product listing on Walmart we already know the game will include toys and characters from Oz, Jurassic World, Back to the Future, The Simpsons and Scooby Doo. There’s continuing speculation of Doctor Who also appearing in the game but nothing solid on that.

On the game side one big franchise that looks likely is Portal. This super popular console game grants the player the ability to create warp doors from one place to another, often with mind-bending results. To have this functionality in super-cute Lego form is another big win for Dimensions.

Beyond the franchises though, it’s the toy side of the equation that works best here. Unlike other Toys to Life offerings, the Lego Dimensions smart minifigure kits function as proper play-on-the-carpet toys rather than collectable put-them-on-shelf figurines.

The current question mark over the game is whether consumers will balk at the higher price. It’s looking likely to be around £99 for the Starter Pack. This isn’t cheap but then Lego never is and that hasn’t been prohibitive to sales.

There will be more news on this and other Toys to Life games from E3 in June and I’ll be sure to keep you up to date.