Given the company’s mission of reinventing play, it’s no surprise that the new release focuses heavily on the games themselves. The team spent several months getting feedback from their users, and found much evidence to back up their claims about a link between physical play and learning. What they didn’t find, however, was an obvious “typical” user. Elementary school teachers use Cubes in the classroom, but they’re also well-loved by kids, and adults looking for some brain exercise. To appeal to the broad range of users, Sifteo has tapped a range of guest designers to develop the new generation’s games--among them, Nickelodeon and legendary Magic the Gathering designers Richard Garfield, whose game will be released in 2013. The new cubes come with four pre-loaded, ranging from a Zelda-inspired adventure game to a simple math game. “We always try to make it distinct from learning,” explains Merrill. But users will find there’s no clear line between play and learning. “It engages your hands and mind in a very unusual way.”