Every few years a toy turns up that makes grown-ups pick it up "just to see how it works" and then put it down forty minutes later with a small dragon in their hand. Plus-Plus is that toy. One shape, a hundred pieces, a tube that fits in a coat pocket, and no batteries, screens or glue anywhere near it.
We've just started stocking Plus-Plus at Loaded Dice, so here's the full rundown: what it actually is, where it comes from, what's in a tube, which of our twelve tubes suits which child, how to get the most out of the pieces once the first build is done, and the pairings that make the best presents this Christmas.
What Plus-Plus actually is
Every Plus-Plus piece is the same shape: a small chunky plus sign, two little plus signs joined together, if you want to be precise about it. That's the whole system. There are no special parts, no wheels, no hinges and no "you need the expansion set for that". Just one shape, in a lot of colours.
The pieces slot into each other at their notches. Lay them flat and they lock together into a mosaic, like a pixel picture you can pick up. Stand them up and click them on at angles and you're building in 3D: animals, robots, vehicles, a reasonably convincing T-Rex. And because of the way the shape interlocks, you can even build gentle curves, which is the bit that tends to surprise adults the first time.
Each standard piece is 20mm by 12mm. Small enough to make detailed builds, big enough that a seven-year-old can get them together and, crucially, back apart again without anyone needing a butter knife.
And every tube works with every other tube. The pieces in the Santa tube are the same shape as the ones in the Dragon tube, so the collection only ever gets more useful.
Where Plus-Plus comes from
Plus-Plus is Danish, which in the building-toy world is a bit like being a Welsh rugby player: you're carrying some expectations. It was created in Denmark in the 1980s and spent years being sold mainly to kindergartens and schools around Scandinavia, which tells you a lot about what it's good at. Teachers liked it long before anybody marketed it at parents.
It went international in 2012, launching at the big Nuremberg toy fair, and is now sold in more than 40 countries. The pieces are still made in the company's own factory in Holbæk, about an hour west of Copenhagen, and that factory runs on wind power.
A few things worth knowing if you care what your children are chewing on (they will chew on it):
- Material: LDPE plastic, the slightly soft, grippy kind rather than hard brittle stuff
- Nasties: BPA-free and phthalate-free
- Safety testing: tested to the EU toy standards (EN 71)
- End of life: 100% recyclable, though Plus-Plus would rather you passed them on, and honestly so would we
It's still plastic, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. But it's plastic that's made to be played with for years and handed down, not plastic that ends up in the bin by Boxing Day, which is a very different thing.
What's in a Plus-Plus tube
All twelve of the tubes we stock follow the same format:
- 100 pieces: in a colour mix chosen for that tube's theme
- Printed instructions: step-by-step for one build, the one on the front
- The tube itself: reusable, travel-friendly, and the single best piece of storage design in the toy aisle
The instructions are in the tube, on paper. Plus-Plus does have a free app with extra build ideas if you want more, but you don't need it, and nobody has to find a charged phone before they can start. It's genuinely screen-free from the moment the lid comes off.
All twelve tubes are £6.99 each at the time of writing.
The twelve Plus-Plus tubes we stock, and who they're for
For animal lovers
- Axolotl: the one every eight-year-old currently wants, and it includes glow-in-the-dark pieces.
- Flamingo: very pink, very leggy, very pleased with itself.
- T-Rex: for the child who has already corrected you on how to pronounce "Pachycephalosaurus".
For dragons, fairies and unicorns
- Dragon: wings, tail, attitude.
- Fairy: comes with glitter pieces, and builds a fairy with wings and a dress in whatever colours they fancy.
- Unicorn: pairs naturally with the Fairy, and the colours mix beautifully between the two.
For sci-fi fans
- Alien: greens, with glow-in-the-dark pieces so it keeps watching after lights out. Make of that what you will.
- Mecha Bot: a chunky robot, and a favourite with anyone who's ever wanted to pilot one.
For things that go
- Airplane: a proper first build for the aviation-obsessed.
- Train: choo choo. Built flat or in 3D, depending on how ambitious the engineer is feeling.
For Christmas
- Santa: festive colours with a choice of skin tones, so they can build Santa their way.
- Snowman: the one that doesn't melt, which puts it ahead of most British snowmen.
How to get the most out of a tube
The instructions get you one model. The real value is everything after it. Here's how we'd play it:
Step 1: Build the one on the front
- Follow the instructions first. It's how kids learn how the pieces want to fit together, and it gives them a win in the first twenty minutes.
- Let them keep it built for a day or two. They've earned the shelf space.
Step 2: Go flat
- Take it apart and try a flat mosaic: their initials, a heart, a football badge, a pixel-art face.
- Flat building is easier than 3D, which makes it perfect for younger builders and for the "I'm bored" moment on a rainy Sunday.
Step 3: Go 3D on their own
- Once they've got the hang of it, set a challenge rather than a set of instructions: build something that can stand up, something with four legs, something that could live in a pond.
- Wonky is fine. Wonky is the point.
Step 4: Mix the tubes
- Two tubes doesn't mean two models. It means 200 pieces and a lot more colours. Fairy plus Dragon makes a whole fantasy scene; Alien plus Mecha Bot makes an invasion.
Step 5: Everything back in the tube
- This is the bit nobody talks about and every parent will thank us for. A hundred pieces fit back in the tube, the lid goes on, the tube goes in a drawer. No crate. No bag. No pieces in the hoover.
Who is Plus-Plus for?
The tubes we stock are recommended for ages 7 and up, and like any small-piece toy they aren't suitable for under-threes, so keep them away from little siblings who still put everything in their mouths. There's a separate, much bigger Plus-Plus range for toddlers, which we don't currently stock.
At the other end, there's no real upper limit. The simplicity makes it work for a seven-year-old doing their first flat heart, and the 3D side has enough depth to keep a ten-year-old designing their own creatures. Plenty of adults use the pieces as a fidget on a desk, and we're not judging. We've got some on ours.
It's also a cracking toy for travel, waiting rooms and restaurants. A tube is narrow, quiet, and doesn't need a table the size of a dining room.
Why it's good for them (without overselling it)
We're not going to claim a tube of Plus-Plus turns your child into an engineer. But the things it asks of them are genuinely useful ones:
- Fine motor skills: pressing small pieces together at precise angles, and pulling them apart again, is proper hand workout for small fingers.
- Spatial thinking: turning a flat instruction diagram into a 3D model, then inventing your own, is exactly the kind of mental rotation that schools spend time teaching.
- Patience and finishing things: a hundred pieces is enough to be a challenge, small enough to get done in one sitting.
- Creativity: one shape means the ideas have to come from them, not from a special piece in the box.
And it's screen-free, properly. If you liked the reasoning in our piece on EUGY's screen-free 3D animals, Plus-Plus scratches the same itch for kids who'd rather click things together than fold them.
How Plus-Plus compares to the other things on our toy shelf
- Plus-Plus vs EUGY: EUGY is card, a one-time build, and gives you a finished animal to keep. Plus-Plus is plastic you build, break up and rebuild for years. EUGY is the better pick if eco credentials matter most; Plus-Plus if you want something with endless replay. Both are pocket money. The EUGY range is here if you want to compare.
- Plus-Plus vs bricks: brick systems give you more realistic, sturdier models with lots of special pieces. Plus-Plus gives you one piece and asks more of the imagination. They don't connect to each other, so don't try.
- Plus-Plus vs Metal Earth: if you're shopping for a teenager or an adult who wants a satisfying finished model on the desk, Metal Earth is the grown-up version of this feeling. Plus-Plus is the one they'll still be taking apart and rebuilding next year.
Plus-Plus gift ideas for Christmas
At £6.99 a tube, Plus-Plus is about as good as stocking fillers get: a reusable tube, a genuine activity, and something that's still being played with on Boxing Day. Two-tube pairings that work especially well, at £13.98 each:
- The Christmas scene: Santa and Snowman. Festive, and the colours stretch to trees and reindeer once the instructions are done.
- The invasion: Alien and Mecha Bot. Two glow-in-the-dark aliens are more fun than one.
- The enchanted forest: Fairy and Unicorn, glitter and all.
- The monster pair: Dragon and T-Rex. An argument about which would win is included free.
- The commute: Airplane and Train, for the child who stops to watch every lorry go past.
For more ideas, our stocking fillers and Christmas toys collections are where the rest of the small presents live.
The honest bit: what we'd swerve
Expecting one tube to build a castle. A hundred pieces makes one model, nicely. If they want big builds, buy two or three tubes and mix them, rather than expecting a single tube to go further than it can.
Giving it to under-threes. These are small pieces. That's not us being cautious, it's what they are.
Lookalike "plus blocks" from marketplace sellers. There are plenty of cheap plus-shaped pieces online. Some of them nearly fit the real thing, which in a building toy is the worst possible outcome, and you've no idea what they're made of. If you're adding to a Plus-Plus collection, buy Plus-Plus.
Gluing a build to keep it forever. We understand the temptation when they've made something brilliant. Take a photo instead. The whole point of Plus-Plus is that the pieces become the next thing.
The hoover. The tube exists for a reason. Use it.
The short version
- What it is: one plus-shaped piece that clicks together flat or in 3D. Every tube works with every other.
- Where it's from: Denmark, made in a wind-powered factory, BPA- and phthalate-free.
- What's in a tube: 100 pieces and printed instructions for one build. App optional.
- Price: £6.99 a tube at the time of writing.
- Ages: 7+. Not for under-threes.
- Best stocking filler: Santa or Snowman, or both.
- Best tip: buy two and mix them.
All twelve tubes are in our Plus-Plus collection, and you can browse the wider toys and games range while you're there.
Final thought: most toys come with a picture of what they're supposed to become. Plus-Plus comes with a picture of one thing it could become, and then quietly hands the rest over to your child. One shape, a hundred pieces, and a tube to put them back in. It's the most sensible seven quid you'll spend this Christmas.
Further reading: for another screen-free pocket-money build, read EUGY 3D Animals: The Screen-Free Craft Kit That's Secretly Building Your Child's Brain, or for the older builders in the house, try Metal Earth Model Kits: The Beginner's Guide to Building in Steel.
